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Sample records for nasa-johnson space center

  1. Networking at NASA. Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garman, John R.

    1991-01-01

    A series of viewgraphs on computer networks at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) are given. Topics covered include information resource management (IRM) at JSC, the IRM budget by NASA center, networks evolution, networking as a strategic tool, the Information Services Directorate charter, and SSC network requirements, challenges, and status.

  2. NASA Pathways Co-op Tour Johnson Space Center Fall 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masood, Amir; Osborne-Lee, Irwin W.

    2013-01-01

    This report outlines the tasks and objectives completed during a co-operative education tour with National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I worked for the Attitude & Pointing group of the Flight Dynamics Division within the Mission Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center. NASA's primary mission is to support and expand the various ongoing space exploration programs and any research and development activities associated with it. My primary project required me to develop and a SharePoint web application for my group. My secondary objective was to become familiar with the role of my group which was primarily to provide spacecraft attitude and line of sight determination, including Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) communications coverage for various NASA, International, and commercial partner spacecraft. My projects required me to become acquainted with different software systems, fundamentals of aerospace engineering, project management, and develop essential interpersonal communication skills. Overall, I accomplished multiple goals which included laying the foundations for an updated SharePoint which will allow for an organized platform to communicate and share data for group members and external partners. I also successfully learned about the operations of the Attitude & Pointing Group and how it contributes to the Missions Operations Directorate and NASA's Space Program as a whole

  3. Nanomaterials Work at NASA-Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arepalli, Sivaram

    2005-01-01

    Nanomaterials activities at NASA-Johnson Space Center focus on single wall carbon nanotube production, characterization and their applications for aerospace. Nanotubes are produced by arc and laser methods and the growth process is monitored by in-situ diagnostics using time resolved passive emission and laser induced fluorescence of the active species. Parametric study of both these processes are conducted to monitor the effect of production parameters including temperature, buffer gas, flow rate, pressure, laser fluence and arc current. Characterization of the nanotube material is performed using the NASA-JSC protocol developed by combining analytical techniques of SEM, TEM, UV-VIS-NIR absorption, Raman, and TGA. Efforts at JSC over the past five years in composites have centered on structural polymernanotube systems. Recent activities broadened this focus to multifunctional materials, supercapacitors, fuel cells, regenerable CO2 absorbers, electromagnetic shielding, radiation dosimetry and thermal management systems of interest for human space flight. Preliminary tests indicate improvement of performance in most of these applications because of the large surface area as well as high conductivity exhibited by SWCNTs.

  4. Regional Super ESPC Saves Energy and Dollars at NASA's Johnson Space Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Federal Energy Management Program

    2001-01-01

    This case study about energy saving performance contacts (ESPCs) presents an overview of how the NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center established an ESPC contract and the benefits derived from it. The Federal Energy Management Program instituted these special contracts to help federal agencies finance energy-saving projects at their facilities

  5. Robotic Technology Efforts at the NASA/Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diftler, Ron

    2017-01-01

    The NASA/Johnson Space Center has been developing robotic systems in support of space exploration for more than two decades. The goal of the Center’s Robotic Systems Technology Branch is to design and build hardware and software to assist astronauts in performing their mission. These systems include: rovers, humanoid robots, inspection devices and wearable robotics. Inspection systems provide external views of space vehicles to search for surface damage and also maneuver inside restricted areas to verify proper connections. New concepts in human and robotic rovers offer solutions for navigating difficult terrain expected in future planetary missions. An important objective for humanoid robots is to relieve the crew of “dull, dirty or dangerous” tasks allowing them more time to perform their important science and exploration missions. Wearable robotics one of the Center’s newest development areas can provide crew with low mass exercise capability and also augment an astronaut’s strength while wearing a space suit.This presentation will describe the robotic technology and prototypes developed at the Johnson Space Center that are the basis for future flight systems. An overview of inspection robots will show their operation on the ground and in-orbit. Rovers with independent wheel modules, crab steering, and active suspension are able to climb over large obstacles, and nimbly maneuver around others. Humanoid robots, including the First Humanoid Robot in Space: Robonaut 2, demonstrate capabilities that will lead to robotic caretakers for human habitats in space, and on Mars. The Center’s Wearable Robotics Lab supports work in assistive and sensing devices, including exoskeletons, force measuring shoes, and grasp assist gloves.

  6. Renewable Energy at NASA's Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowall, Lindsay

    2014-01-01

    NASA's Johnson Space Center has implemented a great number of renewable energy systems. Renewable energy systems are necessary to research and implement if we humans are expected to continue to grow and thrive on this planet. These systems generate energy using renewable sources - water, wind, sun - things that we will not run out of. Johnson Space Center is helping to pave the way by installing and studying various renewable energy systems. The objective of this report will be to examine the completed renewable energy projects at NASA's Johnson Space Center for a time span of ten years, beginning in 2003 and ending in early 2014. This report will analyze the success of each project based on actual vs. projected savings and actual vs. projected efficiency. Additionally, both positive and negative experiences are documented so that lessons may be learned from past experiences. NASA is incorporating renewable energy wherever it can, including into buildings. According to the 2012 JSC Annual Sustainability Report, there are 321,660 square feet of green building space on JSC's campus. The two projects discussed here are major contributors to that statistic. These buildings were designed to meet various Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification criteria. LEED Certified buildings use 30 to 50 percent less energy and water compared to non-LEED buildings. The objectives of this project were to examine data from the renewable energy systems in two of the green buildings onsite - Building 12 and Building 20. In Building 12, data was examined from the solar photovoltaic arrays. In Building 20, data was examined from the solar water heater system. By examining the data from the two buildings, it could be determined if the renewable energy systems are operating efficiently. Objectives In Building 12, the data from the solar photovoltaic arrays shows that the system is continuously collecting energy from the sun, as shown by the graph below. Building 12

  7. NASA Johnson Space Center Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (WAF) Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitmore, M.

    2004-01-01

    The Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) is part of the Space Human Factors Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The facility provides support to the Office of Biological and Physical Research, the Space Shuttle Program, the International Space Station Program, and other NASA organizations. In addition, there are ongoing collaborative research efforts with external businesses and universities. The UTAF provides human factors analysis, evaluation, and usability testing of crew interfaces for space applications. This includes computer displays and controls, workstation systems, and work environments. The UTAF has a unique mix of capabilities, with a staff experienced in both cognitive human factors and ergonomics. The current areas of focus are: human factors applications in emergency medical care and informatics; control and display technologies for electronic procedures and instructions; voice recognition in noisy environments; crew restraint design for unique microgravity workstations; and refinement of human factors processes. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing activities, and will address how the projects will evolve to meet new space initiatives.

  8. Actions Needed to Ensure Scientific and Technical Information is Adequately Reviewed at Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-01-01

    This audit was initiated in response to a hotline complaint regarding the review, approval, and release of scientific and technical information (STI) at Johnson Space Center. The complainant alleged that Johnson personnel conducting export control reviews of STI were not fully qualified to conduct those reviews and that the reviews often did not occur until after the STI had been publicly released. NASA guidance requires that STI, defined as the results of basic and applied scientific, technical, and related engineering research and development, undergo certain reviews prior to being released outside of NASA or to audiences that include foreign nationals. The process includes technical, national security, export control, copyright, and trade secret (e.g., proprietary data) reviews. The review process was designed to preclude the inappropriate dissemination of sensitive information while ensuring that NASA complies with a requirement of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (the Space Act)1 to provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information resulting from NASA research activities. We focused our audit on evaluating the STI review process: specifically, determining whether the roles and responsibilities for the review, approval, and release of STI were adequately defined and documented in NASA and Center-level guidance and whether that guidance was effectively implemented at Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center. Johnson was included in the review because it was the source of the initial complaint, and Goddard, Langley, and Marshall were included because those Centers consistently produce significant amounts of STI.

  9. NASA Johnson Space Center Usability Testing and Analysis facility (UTAF) Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitmore, Mihriban; Holden, Kritina L.

    2005-01-01

    The Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) is part of the Space Human Factors Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The facility performs research for NASA's HumanSystems Integration Program, under the HumanSystems Research and Technology Division. Specifically, the UTAF provides human factors support for space vehicles, including the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and the forthcoming Crew Exploration Vehicle. In addition, there are ongoing collaborative research efforts with external corporations and universities. The UTAF provides human factors analysis, evaluation, and usability testing of crew interfaces for space applications. This includes computer displays and controls, workstation systems, and work environments. The UTAF has a unique mix of capabilities, with a staff experienced in both cognitive human factors and ergonomics. The current areas of focus are: human factors applications in emergency medical care and informatics; control and display technologies for electronic procedures and instructions; voice recognition in noisy environments; crew restraint design for unique microgravity workstations; and refinement of human factors processes and requirements. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing activities, and will address how the UTAF projects will evolve to meet new space initiatives.

  10. Perspectives from the Wearable Electronics and Applications Research (WEAR) Lab, NASA, Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moses, Haifa R.

    2017-01-01

    As NASA moves beyond exploring low earth orbit and into deep space exploration, increased communication delays between astronauts and earth drive a need for crew to become more autonomous (earth-independent). Currently crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) have limited insight into specific vehicle system performance because of the dependency on monitoring and real-time communication with Mission Control. Wearable technology provides a method to bridge the gap between the human (astronaut) and the system (spacecraft) by providing mutual monitoring between the two. For example, vehicle or environmental information can be delivered to astronauts through on-body devices and in return wearables provide data to the spacecraft regarding crew health, location, etc. The Wearable Electronics and Applications Research (WEAR) Lab at the NASA Johnson Space Center utilizes a collaborative approach between engineering and human factors to investigate the use of wearables for spaceflight. Zero and partial gravity environments present unique challenges to wearables that require collaborative, user-centered, and iterative approaches to the problems. Examples of the WEAR Lab's recent wearable projects for spaceflight will be discussed.

  11. Modernization of NASA's Johnson Space Center Chamber: A Payload Transport Rail System to Support Cryogenic Vacuum Optical Testing of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Sam; Homan, Jonathan; Speed, John

    2016-01-01

    NASA is the mission lead for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the next of the "Great Observatories", scheduled for launch in 2018. It is directly responsible for the integration and test (I&T) program that will culminate in an end-to-end cryo vacuum optical test of the flight telescope and instrument module in Chamber A at NASA Johnson Space Center. Historic Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center and one of the largest space simulation chambers in the world. Chamber A has undergone a major modernization effort to support the deep cryogenic, vacuum and cleanliness requirements for testing the JWST. This paper describe the challenges of developing, integrating and modifying new payload rails capable of transporting payloads within the thermal vacuum chamber up to 65,000 pounds. Ambient and Cryogenic Operations required to configure for testing will be explained. Lastly review historical payload configurations stretching from the Apollo program era to current James Webb Space Telescope testing.

  12. Modernization of NASA's Johnson Space Center Chamber: A Liquid Nitrogen System to Support Cryogenic Vacuum Optical Testing of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Sammy; Homan, Jonathan; Montz, Michael

    2016-01-01

    NASA is the mission lead for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the next of the “Great Observatories”, scheduled for launch in 2018. It is directly responsible for the integration and test (I&T) program that will culminate in an end-to-end cryo vacuum optical test of the flight telescope and instrument module in Chamber A at NASA Johnson Space Center. Historic Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center and one of the largest space simulation chambers in the world. Chamber A has undergone a major modernization effort to support the deep cryogenic, vacuum and cleanliness requirements for testing the JWST. This paper describes the steps performed in efforts to convert the existing the 60’s era Liquid Nitrogen System from a forced flow (pumped) process to a natural circulation (thermo-siphon) process. In addition, the paper will describe the dramatic conservation of liquid nitrogen to support the long duration thermal vacuum testing. Lastly, describe the simplistic and effective control system which results in zero to minimal human inputs during steady state conditions.

  13. Two X-38 Ship Demonstrators in Development at NASA Johnson Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-01-01

    This photo shows two X-38 Crew Return Vehicle technology demonstrators under development at NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston, Texas. The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily 'old' technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle

  14. The Johnson Space Center management information systems: User's guide to JSCMIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Peter C.; Erickson, Lloyd

    1990-01-01

    The Johnson Space Center Management Information System (JSCMIS) is an interface to computer data bases at the NASA Johnson Space Center which allows an authorized user to browse and retrieve information from a variety of sources with minimum effort. The User's Guide to JSCMIS is the supplement to the JSCMIS Research Report which details the objectives, the architecture, and implementation of the interface. It is a tutorial on how to use the interface and a reference for details about it. The guide is structured like an extended JSCMIS session, describing all of the interface features and how to use them. It also contains an appendix with each of the standard FORMATs currently included in the interface. Users may review them to decide which FORMAT most suits their needs.

  15. Taxonomy, Ontology and Semantics at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berndt, Sarah Ann

    2011-01-01

    At NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), the Chief Knowledge Officer has been developing the JSC Taxonomy to capitalize on the accomplishments of yesterday while maintaining the flexibility needed for the evolving information environment of today. A clear vision and scope for the semantic system is integral to its success. The vision for the JSC Taxonomy is to connect information stovepipes to present a unified view for information and knowledge across the Center, across organizations, and across decades. Semantic search at JSC means seemless integration of disparate information sets into a single interface. Ever increasing use, interest, and organizational participation mark successful integration and provide the framework for future application.

  16. Development of the CELSS emulator at NASA. Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cullingford, Hatice S.

    1990-01-01

    The Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Emulator is under development. It will be used to investigate computer simulations of integrated CELSS operations involving humans, plants, and process machinery. Described here is Version 1.0 of the CELSS Emulator that was initiated in 1988 on the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Multi Purpose Applications Console Test Bed as the simulation framework. The run model of the simulation system now contains a CELSS model called BLSS. The CELSS simulator empowers us to generate model data sets, store libraries of results for further analysis, and also display plots of model variables as a function of time. The progress of the project is presented with sample test runs and simulation display pages.

  17. NASA Johnson Space Center Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Successes, Infusion and Commercializations and Potential International Partnering Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Packard, Kathryn; Goodman, Doug; Whittington, James

    2016-01-01

    The NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has served as a beneficial funding vehicle to both US small technology businesses and the Federal Agencies that participate in the program. This paper, to the extent possible, while observing Intellectual Property (IP) laws, will discuss the many SBIR and STTR (SBIR Technology Transfer) successes in the recent history of the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). Many of the participants of the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) have based their research and papers on technologies that were made possible by SBIR/STTR awards and post award funding. Many SBIR/STTR successes have flown on Space Shuttle missions, Space X Dragons, and other spacecraft. SBIR/STTR technologies are currently infused on the International Space Station (ISS) and satellites, one of which was a NASA/JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) joint venture. Many of these companies have commercialized their technologies and grown as businesses while helping the economy through the creation of new jobs. In addition, this paper will explore the opportunity for international partnership with US SBIR/STTR companies as up to 49% of the makeup of the company is not required to be American owned. Although this paper will deal with technical achievements, it does not purport to be technical in nature. It will address the many requests for information on successes and opportunities within NASA SBIR and the virtually untapped potential of international partnering.

  18. Example of Occupational Surveillance in a Telemedicine Setting: Application of Epidemiologic Methods at NASA Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babiak-Vazquez, Adriana; Ruffaner, Lanie M.; Wear, Mary L.; Crucian, Brian; Sams, Clarence; Lee, Lesley R.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2016-01-01

    In 2010, NASA implemented Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, a formal occupational surveillance program for the U.S. astronaut corps. Because of the nature of the space environment, space medicine presents unique challenges and opportunities for epidemiologists. One such example is the use of telemedicine while crewmembers are in flight, where the primary source of information about crew health is verbal communication between physicians and their crewmembers. Due to restricted medical capabilities, the available health information is primarily crewmember report of signs and symptoms, rather than diagnoses. As epidemiologists at NASA, Johnson Space Center, we have shifted our paradigm from tracking diagnoses based on traditional terrestrial clinical practice to one in which we also incorporate reported symptomology as potential antecedents of disease. In this presentation we describe how characterization of reported signs and symptoms can be used to establish incidence rates for inflight immunologic events. We describe interdisciplinary data sources of information that are used in combination with medical information to analyze the data. We also delineate criteria for symptom classification inclusion. Finally, we present incidence tables and graphs to illustrate the final outcomes. Using signs and symptoms reported via telemedicine, the epidemiologists provide summary evidence regarding incidence of potential inflight medical conditions. These results inform our NASA physicians and scientists, and support evaluation of the occupational health risks associated with spaceflight.

  19. NASA Johnson Space Center SBIR STTR Program Technology Innovations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishen, Kumar

    2007-01-01

    The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program increases opportunities for small businesses to participate in research and development (R&D), increases employment, and improves U.S. competitiveness. Specifically the program stimulates U.S. technological innovation by using small businesses to meet federal R&D needs, increasing private-sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal R&D, and fostering and encouraging the participation of socially disadvantaged businesses. In 2000, the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program extended and strengthened the SBIR Program, increasing its emphasis on pursuing commercial applications by awarding contracts to small business concerns for cooperative R&D with a nonprofit research institution. Modeled after the SBIR Program, STTR is nevertheless a separately funded activity. Technologies that have resulted from the Johnson Space Center SBIR STTR Program include: a device for regenerating iodinated resin beds; laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis or LASIK; a miniature physiological monitoring device capable of collecting and analyzing a multitude of real-time signals to transmit medical data from remote locations to medical centers for diagnosis and intervention; a new thermal management system for fibers and fabrics giving rise to new line of garments and thermal-enhancing environments; and a highly electropositive material that attracts and retains electronegative particles in water.

  20. Johnson Space Center's Solar and Wind-Based Renewable Energy System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasquez, A.; Ewert, M.; Rowlands, J.; Post, K.

    2009-01-01

    The NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas has a Sustainability Partnership team that seeks ways for earth-based sustainability practices to also benefit space exploration research. A renewable energy gathering system was installed in 2007 at the JSC Child Care Center (CCC) which also offers a potential test bed for space exploration power generation and remote monitoring and control concepts. The system comprises: 1) several different types of photovoltaic panels (29 kW), 2) two wind-turbines (3.6 kW total), and 3) one roof-mounted solar thermal water heater and tank. A tie to the JSC local electrical grid was provided to accommodate excess power. The total first year electrical energy production was 53 megawatt-hours. A web-based real-time metering system collects and reports system performance and weather data. Improvements in areas of the CCC that were detected during subsequent energy analyses and some concepts for future efforts are also presented.

  1. The development and technology transfer of software engineering technology at NASA. Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitman, C. L.; Erb, D. M.; Izygon, M. E.; Fridge, E. M., III; Roush, G. B.; Braley, D. M.; Savely, R. T.

    1992-01-01

    The United State's big space projects of the next decades, such as Space Station and the Human Exploration Initiative, will need the development of many millions of lines of mission critical software. NASA-Johnson (JSC) is identifying and developing some of the Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) technology that NASA will need to build these future software systems. The goal is to improve the quality and the productivity of large software development projects. New trends are outlined in CASE technology and how the Software Technology Branch (STB) at JSC is endeavoring to provide some of these CASE solutions for NASA is described. Key software technology components include knowledge-based systems, software reusability, user interface technology, reengineering environments, management systems for the software development process, software cost models, repository technology, and open, integrated CASE environment frameworks. The paper presents the status and long-term expectations for CASE products. The STB's Reengineering Application Project (REAP), Advanced Software Development Workstation (ASDW) project, and software development cost model (COSTMODL) project are then discussed. Some of the general difficulties of technology transfer are introduced, and a process developed by STB for CASE technology insertion is described.

  2. Organic Contamination Baseline Study in NASA Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Curation Laboratories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calaway, Michael J.; Allen, Carlton C.; Allton, Judith H.

    2014-01-01

    Future robotic and human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comets will require curating astromaterial samples with minimal inorganic and organic contamination to preserve the scientific integrity of each sample. 21st century sample return missions will focus on strict protocols for reducing organic contamination that have not been seen since the Apollo manned lunar landing program. To properly curate these materials, the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office under the Astromaterial Research and Exploration Science Directorate at NASA Johnson Space Center houses and protects all extraterrestrial materials brought back to Earth that are controlled by the United States government. During fiscal year 2012, we conducted a year-long project to compile historical documentation and laboratory tests involving organic investigations at these facilities. In addition, we developed a plan to determine the current state of organic cleanliness in curation laboratories housing astromaterials. This was accomplished by focusing on current procedures and protocols for cleaning, sample handling, and storage. While the intention of this report is to give a comprehensive overview of the current state of organic cleanliness in JSC curation laboratories, it also provides a baseline for determining whether our cleaning procedures and sample handling protocols need to be adapted and/or augmented to meet the new requirements for future human spaceflight and robotic sample return missions.

  3. 75 FR 17437 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-06

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-039)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Monday, April 26, 2010, 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m. CDT. ADDRESSES: NASA Johnson Space Center, Gilruth Conference Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058. FOR FURTHER...

  4. A monograph of the National Space Transportation System Office (NSTSO) integration activities conducted at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for the EASE/ACCESS payload flown on STS 61-B

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chassay, Charles

    1987-01-01

    The integration process of activities conducted at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) for the Experimental Assembly of Structures in Extravehicular activity (EASE)/Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures (ACCESS) payload is provided as a subset to the standard payload integration process used by the NASA Space Transportation System (STS) to fly payloads on the Space Shuttle. The EASE/ACCESS payload integration activities are chronologically reviewed beginning with the initiation of the flight manifesting and integration process. The development and documentation of the EASE/ACCESS integration requirements are also discussed along with the implementation of the mission integration activities and the engineering assessments supporting the flight integration process. In addition, the STS management support organizations, the payload safety process leading to the STS 61-B flight certification, and the overall EASE/ACCESS integration schedule are presented.

  5. Using Remotely Sensed Data for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: A Collaborative Effort Between the Climate Change Adaptation Science Investigators Workgroup (CASI), NASA Johnson Space Center, and Jacobs Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jagge, Amy

    2016-01-01

    With ever changing landscapes and environmental conditions due to human induced climate change, adaptability is imperative for the long-term success of facilities and Federal agency missions. To mitigate the effects of climate change, indicators such as above-ground biomass change must be identified to establish a comprehensive monitoring effort. Researching the varying effects of climate change on ecosystems can provide a scientific framework that will help produce informative, strategic and tactical policies for environmental adaptation. As a proactive approach to climate change mitigation, NASA tasked the Climate Change Adaptation Science Investigators Workgroup (CASI) to provide climate change expertise and data to Center facility managers and planners in order to ensure sustainability based on predictive models and current research. Generation of historical datasets that will be used in an agency-wide effort to establish strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation at NASA facilities is part of the CASI strategy. Using time series of historical remotely sensed data is well-established means of measuring change over time. CASI investigators have acquired multispectral and hyperspectral optical and LiDAR remotely sensed datasets from NASA Earth Observation Satellites (including the International Space Station), airborne sensors, and astronaut photography using hand held digital cameras to create a historical dataset for the Johnson Space Center, as well as the Houston and Galveston area. The raster imagery within each dataset has been georectified, and the multispectral and hyperspectral imagery has been atmospherically corrected. Using ArcGIS for Server, the CASI-Regional Remote Sensing data has been published as an image service, and can be visualized through a basic web mapping application. Future work will include a customized web mapping application created using a JavaScript Application Programming Interface (API), and inclusion of the CASI data

  6. Creating the Deep Space Environment for Testing the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homan, Jonathan L.; Cerimele, Mary P.; Montz, Michael E.; Bachtel, Russell; Speed, John; O'Rear, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft.) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft.) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. It was originally designed and built in the mid 1960 s to test the Apollo Command and Service Module and several manned tests were conducted on that spacecraft, contributing to the success of the program. The chamber has been used since that time to test spacecraft active thermal control systems, Shuttle DTO, DOD, and ESA hardware in simulated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. NASA is now moving from LEO towards exploration of locations with environments approaching those of deep space. Therefore, Chamber A has undergone major modifications to enable it to simulate these deeper space environments. Environmental requirements were driven, and modifications were funded by the James Webb Space Telescope program, and this telescope, which will orbit Solar/Earth L2, will be the first test article to benefit from the chamber s new capabilities. To accommodate JWST, the Chamber A high vacuum system has been modernized, additional LN2 shrouds have been installed, the liquid nitrogen system has been modified to minimize dependency on electrical power and increase its reliability, a new helium shroud/refrigeration system has been installed to create a colder more stable and uniform heat sink, and the controls have been updated to increase the level of automation and improve operator interfaces. Testing of these major modifications was conducted in August of 2012 and this initial test was very successful, with all major systems exceeding their performance requirements. This paper will outline the changes in overall environmental requirements, discuss the technical design data that was used in the decisions leading to the extensive

  7. Spaceflight Radiation Health program at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, A.S.; Badhwar, G.D.; Golightly, M.J.; Hardy, A.C.; Konradi, A.; Yang, T.C.

    1993-12-01

    The Johnson Space Center leads the research and development activities that address the health effects of space radiation exposure to astronaut crews. Increased knowledge of the composition of the environment and of the biological effects of space radiation is required to assess health risks to astronaut crews. The activities at the Johnson Space Center range from quantification of astronaut exposures to fundamental research into the biological effects resulting from exposure to high energy particle radiation. The Spaceflight Radiation Health Program seeks to balance the requirements for operational flexibility with the requirement to minimize crew radiation exposures. The components of the space radiation environment are characterized. Current and future radiation monitoring instrumentation is described. Radiation health risk activities are described for current Shuttle operations and for research development program activities to shape future analysis of health risk.

  8. Spaceflight Radiation Health program at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, A.S.; Badhwar, G.D.; Golightly, M.J.; Hardy, A.C.; Konradi, A.; Yang, T.C.

    1993-12-01

    The Johnson Space Center leads the research and development activities that address the health effects of space radiation exposure to astronaut crews. Increased knowledge of the composition of the environment and of the biological effects of space radiation is required to assess health risks to astronaut crews. The activities at the Johnson Space Center range from quantification of astronaut exposures to fundamental research into the biological effects resulting from exposure to high energy particle radiation. The Spaceflight Radiation Health Program seeks to balance the requirements for operational flexibility with the requirement to minimize crew radiation exposures. The components of the space radiation environment are characterized. Current and future radiation monitoring instrumentation is described. Radiation health risk activities are described for current Shuttle operations and for research development program activities to shape future analysis of health risk

  9. Creating the Deep Space Environment for Testing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homan, Jonathan L.; Cerimele, Mary P.; Montz, Michael E.; Bachtel, Russell; Speed, John; O'Rear, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. It was originally designed and built in the mid 1960 s to test the Apollo Command and Service Module and several manned tests were conducted on that spacecraft, contributing to the success of the program. The chamber has been used since that time to test spacecraft active thermal control systems, Shuttle DTO, DOD, and ESA hardware in simulated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. NASA is now moving from LEO towards exploration of locations with environments approaching those of deep space. Therefore, Chamber A has undergone major modifications to enable it to simulate these deeper space environments. Environmental requirements were driven, and modifications were funded by the James Webb Space Telescope program, and this telescope which will orbit Solar/Earth L2, will be the first test article to benefit from the chamber s new capabilities. To accommodate JWST, the Chamber A high vacuum system has been modernized, additional LN2 shrouds have been installed, the liquid nitrogen system has been modified to remove dependency on electrical power and increase its reliability, a new helium shroud/refrigeration system has been installed to create a colder more stable and uniform heat sink, and the controls have been updated to increase the level of automation and improve operator interfaces. Testing of these major modifications was conducted in August of 2012 and this initial test was very successful, with all major systems exceeding their performance requirements. This paper will outline the changes in overall environmental requirements, discuss the technical design data that was used in the decisions leading to the extensive modifications

  10. Unique strategies for technical information management at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishen, Vijay

    1994-01-01

    In addition to the current NASA manned programs, the maturation of Space Station and the introduction of the Space Exploration programs are anticipated to add substantially to the number and variety of data and documentation at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). This growth in the next decade has been estimated at five to ten fold compared to the current numbers. There will be an increased requirement for the tracking and currency of space program data and documents with National pressures to realize economic benefits from the research and technological developments of space programs. From a global perspective the demand for NASA's technical data and documentation is anticipated to increase at local, national, and international levels. The primary users will be government, industry, and academia. In our present national strategy, NASA's research and technology will assume a great role in the revitalization of the economy and gaining international competitiveness. Thus, greater demand will be placed on NASA's data and documentation resources. In this paper the strategies and procedures developed by DDMS, Inc., to accommodate the present and future information utilization needs are presented. The DDMS, Inc., strategies and procedures rely on understanding user requirements, library management issues, and technological applications for acquiring, searching, storing, and retrieving specific information accurately and quickly. The proposed approach responds to changing customer requirements and product deliveries. The unique features of the proposed strategy include: (1) To establish customer driven data and documentation management through an innovative and unique methods to identify needs and requirements. (2) To implement a structured process which responds to user needs, aimed at minimizing costs and maximizing services, resulting in increased productivity. (3) To provide a process of standardization of services and procedures. This standardization is the central

  11. The Hayabusa Curation Facility at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zolensky, M.; Bastien, R.; McCann, B.; Frank, D.; Gonzalez, C.; Rodriguez, M.

    2013-01-01

    The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft made contact with the asteroid 25143 Itokawa and collected regolith dust from Muses Sea region of smooth terrain [1]. The spacecraft returned to Earth with more than 10,000 grains ranging in size from just over 300 µm to less than 10 µm [2, 3]. These grains represent the only collection of material returned from an asteroid by a spacecraft. As part of the joint agreement between JAXA and NASA for the mission, 10% of the Hayabusa grains are being transferred to NASA for parallel curation and allocation. In order to properly receive process and curate these samples, a new curation facility was established at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Since the Hayabusa samples within the JAXA curation facility have been stored free from exposure to terrestrial atmosphere and contamination [4], one of the goals of the new NASA curation facility was to continue this treatment. An existing lab space at JSC was transformed into a 120 sq.ft. ISO class 4 (equivalent to the original class 10 standard) clean room. Hayabusa samples are stored, observed, processed, and packaged for allocation inside a stainless steel glove box under dry N2. Construction of the clean laboratory was completed in 2012. Currently, 25 Itokawa particles are lodged in NASA's Hayabusa Lab. Special care has been taken during lab construction to remove or contain materials that may contribute contaminant particles in the same size range as the Hayabusa grains. Several witness plates of various materials are installed around the clean lab and within the glove box to permit characterization of local contaminants at regular intervals by SEM and mass spectrometry, and particle counts of the lab environment are frequently acquired. Of particular interest is anodized aluminum, which contains copious sub-mm grains of a multitude of different materials embedded in its upper surface. Unfortunately the use of anodized aluminum was necessary in the construction

  12. NASA Johnson Space Center's Planetary Sample Analysis and Mission Science (PSAMS) Laboratory: A National Facility for Planetary Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draper, D. S.

    2016-01-01

    NASA Johnson Space Center's (JSC's) Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division, part of the Exploration Integration and Science Directorate, houses a unique combination of laboratories and other assets for conducting cutting edge planetary research. These facilities have been accessed for decades by outside scientists, most at no cost and on an informal basis. ARES has thus provided substantial leverage to many past and ongoing science projects at the national and international level. Here we propose to formalize that support via an ARES/JSC Plane-tary Sample Analysis and Mission Science Laboratory (PSAMS Lab). We maintain three major research capa-bilities: astromaterial sample analysis, planetary process simulation, and robotic-mission analog research. ARES scientists also support planning for eventual human ex-ploration missions, including astronaut geological training. We outline our facility's capabilities and its potential service to the community at large which, taken together with longstanding ARES experience and expertise in curation and in applied mission science, enable multi-disciplinary planetary research possible at no other institution. Comprehensive campaigns incorporating sample data, experimental constraints, and mission science data can be conducted under one roof.

  13. Johnson Space Center's Risk and Reliability Analysis Group 2008 Annual Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valentine, Mark; Boyer, Roger; Cross, Bob; Hamlin, Teri; Roelant, Henk; Stewart, Mike; Bigler, Mark; Winter, Scott; Reistle, Bruce; Heydorn,Dick

    2009-01-01

    The Johnson Space Center (JSC) Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) Directorate s Risk and Reliability Analysis Group provides both mathematical and engineering analysis expertise in the areas of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) analysis, and data collection and analysis. The fundamental goal of this group is to provide National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decisionmakers with the necessary information to make informed decisions when evaluating personnel, flight hardware, and public safety concerns associated with current operating systems as well as with any future systems. The Analysis Group includes a staff of statistical and reliability experts with valuable backgrounds in the statistical, reliability, and engineering fields. This group includes JSC S&MA Analysis Branch personnel as well as S&MA support services contractors, such as Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and SoHaR. The Analysis Group s experience base includes nuclear power (both commercial and navy), manufacturing, Department of Defense, chemical, and shipping industries, as well as significant aerospace experience specifically in the Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), and Constellation Programs. The Analysis Group partners with project and program offices, other NASA centers, NASA contractors, and universities to provide additional resources or information to the group when performing various analysis tasks. The JSC S&MA Analysis Group is recognized as a leader in risk and reliability analysis within the NASA community. Therefore, the Analysis Group is in high demand to help the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) continue to fly safely, assist in designing the next generation spacecraft for the Constellation Program (CxP), and promote advanced analytical techniques. The Analysis Section s tasks include teaching classes and instituting personnel qualification processes to enhance the professional abilities of our analysts

  14. Introduction to the Navigation Team: Johnson Space Center EG6 Internship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gualdoni, Matthew

    2017-01-01

    The EG6 navigation team at NASA Johnson Space Center, like any team of engineers, interacts with the engineering process from beginning to end; from exploring solutions to a problem, to prototyping and studying the implementations, all the way to polishing and verifying a final flight-ready design. This summer, I was privileged enough to gain exposure to each of these processes, while also getting to truly experience working within a team of engineers. My summer can be broken up into three projects: i) Initial study and prototyping: investigating a manual navigation method that can be utilized onboard Orion in the event of catastrophic failure of navigation systems; ii) Finalizing and verifying code: altering a software routine to improve its robustness and reliability, as well as designing unit tests to verify its performance; and iii) Development of testing equipment: assisting in developing and integrating of a high-fidelity testbed to verify the performance of software and hardware.

  15. INFINITY at NASA Stennis Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Flags are planted on the roof of the new INFINITY at NASA Stennis Space Center facility under construction just west of the Mississippi Welcome Center at exit 2 on Interstate 10. Stennis and community leaders celebrated the 'topping out' of the new science center Nov. 17, marking a construction milestone for the center. The 72,000-square-foot science and education center will feature space and Earth galleries to showcase the science that underpins the missions of the agencies at Stennis Space Center. The center is targeted to open in 2012.

  16. Thermoelectric applications as related to biomedical engineering for NASA Johnson Space Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kramer, C D

    1997-07-01

    This paper presents current NASA biomedical developments and applications using thermoelectrics. Discussion will include future technology enhancements that would be most beneficial to the application of thermoelectric technology. A great deal of thermoelectric applications have focused on electronic cooling. As with all technological developments within NASA, if the application cannot be related to the average consumer, the technology will not be mass-produced and widely available to the public (a key to research and development expenditures and thermoelectric companies). Included are discussions of thermoelectric applications to cool astronauts during launch and reentry. The earth-based applications, or spin-offs, include such innovations as tank and race car driver cooling, to cooling infants with high temperatures, as well as, the prevention of hair loss during chemotherapy. In order to preserve the scientific value of metabolic samples during long-term space missions, cooling is required to enable scientific studies. Results of one such study should provide a better understanding of osteoporosis and may lead to a possible cure for the disease. In the space environment, noise has to be kept to a minimum. In long-term space applications such as the International Space Station, thermoelectric technology provides the acoustic relief and the reliability for food, as well as, scientific refrigeration/freezers. Applications and future needs are discussed as NASA moves closer to a continued space presence in Mir, International Space Station, and Lunar-Mars Exploration.

  17. The Johnson Space Center Management Information Systems (JSCMIS). 1: Requirements Definition and Design Specifications for Versions 2.1 and 2.1.1. 2: Documented Test Scenario Environments. 3: Security Design and Specifications

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-01-01

    The Johnson Space Center Management Information System (JSCMIS) is an interface to computer data bases at NASA Johnson which allows an authorized user to browse and retrieve information from a variety of sources with minimum effort. This issue gives requirements definition and design specifications for versions 2.1 and 2.1.1, along with documented test scenario environments, and security object design and specifications.

  18. NASA - Johnson Space Center's New Capabilities for Air Purification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graf, John

    2015-01-01

    NASA has some unique and challenging air purification problems that cannot be adequately met with COTS technology: 1) ammonia removal from air, 2) hydrazine removal from air, 3) CO conversion to CO2 in low temperature, high humidity environments. NASA has sponsored the development of new sorbents and new catalysts. These new sorbents and catalysts work better than COTS technology for our application. If attendees have a need for an effective ammonia sorbent, an effective hydrazine sorbent, or an effective CO conversion catalyst, we should learn to see if NASA sponsored technology development can help.

  19. NASA Lunar Sample Education Disk Program - Space Rocks for Classrooms, Museums, Science Centers and Libraries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, J. S.

    2009-12-01

    NASA is eager for students and the public to experience lunar Apollo rocks and regolith soils first hand. Lunar samples embedded in plastic are available for educators to use in their classrooms, museums, science centers, and public libraries for education activities and display. The sample education disks are valuable tools for engaging students in the exploration of the Solar System. Scientific research conducted on the Apollo rocks has revealed the early history of our Earth-Moon system. The rocks help educators make the connections to this ancient history of our planet as well as connections to the basic lunar surface processes - impact and volcanism. With these samples educators in museums, science centers, libraries, and classrooms can help students and the public understand the key questions pursued by missions to Moon. The Office of the Curator at Johnson Space Center is in the process of reorganizing and renewing the Lunar and Meteorite Sample Education Disk Program to increase reach, security and accountability. The new program expands the reach of these exciting extraterrestrial rocks through increased access to training and educator borrowing. One of the expanded opportunities is that trained certified educators from science centers, museums, and libraries may now borrow the extraterrestrial rock samples. Previously the loan program was only open to classroom educators so the expansion will increase the public access to the samples and allow educators to make the critical connections of the rocks to the exciting exploration missions taking place in our solar system. Each Lunar Disk contains three lunar rocks and three regolith soils embedded in Lucite. The anorthosite sample is a part of the magma ocean formed on the surface of Moon in the early melting period, the basalt is part of the extensive lunar mare lava flows, and the breccias sample is an important example of the violent impact history of the Moon. The disks also include two regolith soils and

  20. Environmental Physiology at the Johnson Space Center: Past, Present, and Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conkin, Johnny

    2007-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation reviews the work in environmental physiology done at Johnson Space Center (JSC). The work is aimed at keeping astronauts healthy. This is a different approach than treating the sick, and is more of an occupational health model. The reduction of risks is the main emphasis for this work. They emphasis is to reduce the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) and acute mountain sickness (AMS). The work in environmental physiology encompasses the following areas: (1) Pressure: hypobaric and hyperbaric (2) Gases: hypoxia and hyperoxia, hypercapnia--closed space issues, inert gas physiology / respiration (3) Temperature: hypothermia and hyperthermia, thermal comfort, Protective clothing diving, aviation, mountaineering, and space (4) Acceleration (5) Noise and Vibration (6) Exercise / Performance (6) Acclimatization / Adaptation: engineering solutions when necessary. This presentation reviews the work done at JSC in the areas of DCS and AMS.

  1. NASA Space Weather Center Services: Potential for Space Weather Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yihua; Kuznetsova, Masha; Pulkkinen, Antti; Taktakishvili, A.; Mays, M. L.; Chulaki, A.; Lee, H.; Hesse, M.

    2012-01-01

    The NASA Space Weather Center's primary objective is to provide the latest space weather information and forecasting for NASA's robotic missions and its partners and to bring space weather knowledge to the public. At the same time, the tools and services it possesses can be invaluable for research purposes. Here we show how our archive and real-time modeling of space weather events can aid research in a variety of ways, with different classification criteria. We will list and discuss major CME events, major geomagnetic storms, and major SEP events that occurred during the years 2010 - 2012. Highlights of major tools/resources will be provided.

  2. D-Side: A Facility and Workforce Planning Group Multi-criteria Decision Support System for Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavana, Madjid

    2005-01-01

    "To understand and protect our home planet, to explore the universe and search for life, and to inspire the next generation of explorers" is NASA's mission. The Systems Management Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is searching for methods to effectively manage the Center's resources to meet NASA's mission. D-Side is a group multi-criteria decision support system (GMDSS) developed to support facility decisions at JSC. D-Side uses a series of sequential and structured processes to plot facilities in a three-dimensional (3-D) graph on the basis of each facility alignment with NASA's mission and goals, the extent to which other facilities are dependent on the facility, and the dollar value of capital investments that have been postponed at the facility relative to the facility replacement value. A similarity factor rank orders facilities based on their Euclidean distance from Ideal and Nadir points. These similarity factors are then used to allocate capital improvement resources across facilities. We also present a parallel model that can be used to support decisions concerning allocation of human resources investments across workforce units. Finally, we present results from a pilot study where 12 experienced facility managers from NASA used D-Side and the organization's current approach to rank order and allocate funds for capital improvement across 20 facilities. Users evaluated D-Side favorably in terms of ease of use, the quality of the decision-making process, decision quality, and overall value-added. Their evaluations of D-Side were significantly more favorable than their evaluations of the current approach. Keywords: NASA, Multi-Criteria Decision Making, Decision Support System, AHP, Euclidean Distance, 3-D Modeling, Facility Planning, Workforce Planning.

  3. 75 FR 16197 - NASA Advisory Council; Space Operations Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-31

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-036)] NASA Advisory Council; Space..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council Space Operations Committee. DATES: Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 3-5 p.m. CDT. ADDRESSES: NASA Johnson Space...

  4. NASA GSFC Space Weather Center - Innovative Space Weather Dissemination: Web-Interfaces, Mobile Applications, and More

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddox, Marlo; Zheng, Yihua; Rastaetter, Lutz; Taktakishvili, A.; Mays, M. L.; Kuznetsova, M.; Lee, Hyesook; Chulaki, Anna; Hesse, Michael; Mullinix, Richard; hide

    2012-01-01

    The NASA GSFC Space Weather Center (http://swc.gsfc.nasa.gov) is committed to providing forecasts, alerts, research, and educational support to address NASA's space weather needs - in addition to the needs of the general space weather community. We provide a host of services including spacecraft anomaly resolution, historical impact analysis, real-time monitoring and forecasting, custom space weather alerts and products, weekly summaries and reports, and most recently - video casts. There are many challenges in providing accurate descriptions of past, present, and expected space weather events - and the Space Weather Center at NASA GSFC employs several innovative solutions to provide access to a comprehensive collection of both observational data, as well as space weather model/simulation data. We'll describe the challenges we've faced with managing hundreds of data streams, running models in real-time, data storage, and data dissemination. We'll also highlight several systems and tools that are utilized by the Space Weather Center in our daily operations, all of which are available to the general community as well. These systems and services include a web-based application called the Integrated Space Weather Analysis System (iSWA http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov), two mobile space weather applications for both IOS and Android devices, an external API for web-service style access to data, google earth compatible data products, and a downloadable client-based visualization tool.

  5. Johnson Space Center's Free Range Bicycle Program.- Fall 2015 Intern Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee-Stockton, Willem

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Johnson Space Center is a big place, encompassing 1,620 acres and more than a hundred buildings. Furthermore, there are reportedly 15 thousand employees, all of which have somewhere to be. To facilitate the movement of all these people JSC has historically relied on human power. Pedaling their way towards deep space, bicycles have been the go to method. Currently there are about 200 Free Range Bicycles at JSC. Free Range Bicycles belong to nobody, except NASA, and are available for anybody to use. They are not to be locked or hidden (although frequently are) and the intention is that there will always be a bike to hop on to get where you're going (although it may not be the bike you rode in on). Although not without its own shortcomings, the Free Range Bicycle Program has continued to provide low cost, simple transportation for NASA's JSC. In addition to the approximately 200 Free Range Bicycles, various larger divisions (like engineering) will often buy a few dozen bikes for their team members to use or individuals will bring their own personal bike to either commute or use on site. When these bicycles fall into disrepair or are abandoned (from retirees etc) they become a problem at JSC. They are an eye sore, create a safety hazard and make it harder to find a working bike in a time of need. The Free Range Program hopes to address this first problem by "tagging out" abandoned or out of service bicycles. A bright orange "DO NOT OPERATE" tag is placed on the bike and given a serial number for tracking purposes. See picture to the right. If the bike has an active owner with intentions to repair the bike the bottom of the tag has instructions for how to claim the abandoned bicycle. After being tagged the owner of the bicycle has 30 days to claim the bicycle and either haul it off site or get it repaired (and labeled) in accordance with Johnson's Bicycle Policy. If the abandoned bicycle is not claimed within 30 days it becomes the property of the Government. The

  6. The Johnson Space Center Management Information Systems (JSCMIS): An interface for organizational databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Peter C.; Erickson, Lloyd

    1990-01-01

    The Management Information and Decision Support Environment (MIDSE) is a research activity to build and test a prototype of a generic human interface on the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Information Network (CIN). The existing interfaces were developed specifically to support operations rather than the type of data which management could use. The diversity of the many interfaces and their relative difficulty discouraged occasional users from attempting to use them for their purposes. The MIDSE activity approached this problem by designing and building an interface to one JSC data base - the personnel statistics tables of the NASA Personnel and Payroll System (NPPS). The interface was designed against the following requirements: generic (use with any relational NOMAD data base); easy to learn (intuitive operations for new users); easy to use (efficient operations for experienced users); self-documenting (help facility which informs users about the data base structure as well as the operation of the interface); and low maintenance (easy configuration to new applications). A prototype interface entitled the JSC Management Information Systems (JSCMIS) was produced. It resides on CIN/PROFS and is available to JSC management who request it. The interface has passed management review and is ready for early use. Three kinds of data are now available: personnel statistics, personnel register, and plan/actual cost.

  7. Johnson Space Center Health and Medical Technical Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fogarty, Jennifer A.

    2010-01-01

    1.HMTA responsibilities: a) Assure program/project compliance with Agency health and medical requirements at identified key decision points. b) Certify that programs/projects comply with Agency health and medical requirements prior to spaceflight missions. c) Assure technical excellence. 2. Designation of applicable NASA Centers for HMTA implementation and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) appointment. 3. Center CMO responsible for HMTA implementation for programs and projects at the center. JSC HMTA captured in "JSC HMTA Implementation Plan". 4. Establishes specifics of dissenting opinion process consistent with NASA procedural requirements.

  8. Chemical Engineering at NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Jacob

    2008-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation is a review of the career paths for chemicals engineer at NASA (specifically NASA Johnson Space Center.) The author uses his personal experience and history as an example of the possible career options.

  9. Creating the Deep Space Environment for Testing the James Webb Space Telescope at the Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homan, Jonathan L.; Cerimele, Mary P.; Montz, Michael E.

    2012-01-01

    Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. It was originally designed and built in the mid 1960's to test the Apollo Command and Service Module and several manned tests were conducted on that spacecraft, contributing to the success of the program. The chamber has been used since that time to test spacecraft active thermal control systems, Shuttle DTO, DOD, and ESA hardware in simulated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. NASA is now moving from LEO towards exploration of locations with environments approaching those of deep space. Therefore, Chamber A has undergone major modifications to enable it to simulate these deeper space environments. Environmental requirements were driven, and the modifications were funded, by the James Webb Space Telescope program, and this telescope which will orbit Solar/Earth L2, will be the first test article to benefit from the chamber s new capabilities. To accommodate JWST, the Chamber A high vacuum system has been modernized, additional LN2 shrouds have been installed, the liquid nitrogen system has been modified to remove dependency on electrical power and increase its reliability, a new helium shroud/refrigeration system has been installed to create a colder more stable and uniform heat sink and, the controls have been updated to increase the level of automation and improve operator interfaces. Testing of these major modifications was conducted in August 2012 and this initial test was very successful, with all major systems exceeding their performance requirements. This paper will outline the changes in the overall environmental requirements, discuss the technical design data that was used in the decisions leading to the extensive

  10. NASA Aerosciences Activities to Support Human Space Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    LeBeau, Gerald J.

    2011-01-01

    The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) has been a critical element of the United State's human space flight program for over 50 years. It is the home to NASA s Mission Control Center, the astronaut corps, and many major programs and projects including the Space Shuttle Program, International Space Station Program, and the Orion Project. As part of JSC's Engineering Directorate, the Applied Aeroscience and Computational Fluid Dynamics Branch is charted to provide aerosciences support to all human spacecraft designs and missions for all phases of flight, including ascent, exo-atmospheric, and entry. The presentation will review past and current aeroscience applications and how NASA works to apply a balanced philosophy that leverages ground testing, computational modeling and simulation, and flight testing, to develop and validate related products. The speaker will address associated aspects of aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, rarefied gas dynamics, and decelerator systems, involving both spacecraft vehicle design and analysis, and operational mission support. From these examples some of NASA leading aerosciences challenges will be identified. These challenges will be used to provide foundational motivation for the development of specific advanced modeling and simulation capabilities, and will also be used to highlight how development activities are increasing becoming more aligned with flight projects. NASA s efforts to apply principles of innovation and inclusion towards improving its ability to support the myriad of vehicle design and operational challenges will also be briefly reviewed.

  11. In-Space Manufacturing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center: Enabling Technologies for Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bean, Quincy; Johnston, Mallory; Ordonez, Erick; Ryan, Rick; Prater, Tracie; Werkeiser, Niki

    2015-01-01

    NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is currently engaged in a number of in-space manufacturing(ISM)activities that have the potential to reduce launch costs, enhance crew safety, and provide the capabilities needed to undertake long duration spaceflight safely and sustainably.

  12. Supporting Multiple Programs and Projects at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Camiren L.

    2014-01-01

    With the conclusion of the shuttle program in 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had found itself at a crossroads for finding transportation of United States astronauts and experiments to space. The agency would eventually hand off the taxiing of American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) that orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) about 210 miles above the earth under the requirements of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). By privatizing the round trip journey from Earth to the ISS, the space agency has been given the additional time to focus funding and resources to projects that operate beyond LEO; however, adding even more stress to the agency, the premature cancellation of the program that would succeed the Shuttle Program - The Constellation Program (CxP) -it would inevitably delay the goal to travel beyond LEO for a number of years. Enter the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). Currently, the SLS is under development at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, while the Orion Capsule, built by government contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation, has been assembled and is currently under testing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. In its current vision, SLS will take Orion and its crew to an asteroid that had been captured in an earlier mission in lunar orbit. Additionally, this vehicle and its configuration is NASA's transportation to Mars. Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are currently working to test the ground systems that will facilitate the launch of Orion and the SLS within its Ground Services Development and Operations (GSDO) Program. Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center (LCC) has been refurbished and outfitted to support the SLS Program. In addition, the Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) is the underlying control system for monitoring and launching manned launch vehicles. As NASA finds itself at a junction, so does all of its

  13. TRW Ships NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory To Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-04-01

    Two U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport planes carrying the observatory and its ground support equipment landed at Kennedy's Space Shuttle Landing Facility at 2:40 p.m. EST this afternoon. REDONDO BEACH, CA.--(Business Wire)--Feb. 4, 1999--TRW has shipped NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory ("Chandra") to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, in preparation for a Space Shuttle launch later this year. The 45-foot-tall, 5-ton science satellite will provide astronomers with new information on supernova remnants, the surroundings of black holes, and other celestial phenomena that produce vast quantities of X-rays. Cradled safely in the cargo hold of a tractor-trailer rig called the Space Cargo Transportation System (SCTS), NASA's newest space telescope was ferried on Feb. 4 from Los Angeles International Airport to KSC aboard an Air Force C-5 Galaxy transporter. The SCTS, an Air Force container, closely resembles the size and shape of the Shuttle cargo bay. Over the next few months, Chandra will undergo final tests at KSC and be mated to a Boeing-provided Inertial Upper Stage for launch aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. A launch date for the Space Shuttle STS-93 mission is expected to be announced later this week. The third in NASA's family of Great Observatories that includes the Hubble Space Telescope and the TRW-built Compton Gamma Ray observatory, Chandra will use the world's most powerful X-ray telescope to allow scientists to "see" and monitor cosmic events that are invisible to conventional optical telescopes. Chandra's X-ray images will yield new insight into celestial phenomena such as the temperature and extent of gas clouds that comprise clusters of galaxies and the superheating of gas and dust particles as they swirl into black holes. A TRW-led team that includes the Eastman Kodak Co., Raytheon Optical Systems Inc., and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. designed and built the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The

  14. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1989, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, William B., Jr. (Editor); Goldstein, Stanley H. (Editor)

    1989-01-01

    The 1989 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by Texas A and M University and JSC. The 10-week program was operated under the auspices of the ASEE. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The objectives of the program, which began nationally in 1964 and at JSC in 1965, are: (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objective of the NASA Centers.

  15. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program 1988, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bannerot, Richard B.; Goldstein, Stanley H.

    1989-01-01

    The 1988 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by the University of Houston and JCS. The 10-week program was operated under the auspices of the ASEE. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The objectives of the program, which began in 1965 at JSC and in 1964 nationally, are: (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objectives of the NASA Centers.

  16. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1989, volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, William B., Jr. (Editor); Goldstein, Stanley H. (Editor)

    1989-01-01

    The 1989 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by Texas A and M University and JSC. The 10-week program was operated under the auspices of the ASEE. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The objectives of the program, which began nationally in 1964 and at JSC in 1965, are: (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objective of the NASA Centers.

  17. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program 1988, volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bannerot, Richard B. (Editor); Goldstein, Stanley H. (Editor)

    1989-01-01

    The 1988 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by the University of Houston and JSC. The 10-week program was operated under the auspices of the ASEE. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The objectives of the program, which began in 1965 at JSC and in 1964 nationally, are (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objectives of the NASA Centers.

  18. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1992, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bannerot, Richard B. (Editor); Goldstein, Stanley H. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    The 1992 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by the University of Houston and JSC. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, NASA Headquarters Washington, DC. The objectives of the program, which began nationally in 1964 and at JSC in 1965, are (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objective of the NASA Centers. This document contains reports 13 through 24.

  19. NASA as a Convener: Government, Academic and Industry Collaborations Through the NASA Human Health and Performance Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey R.; Richard, Elizabeth E.

    2011-01-01

    On October 18, 2010, the NASA Human Health and Performance center (NHHPC) was opened to enable collaboration among government, academic and industry members. Membership rapidly grew to 60 members (http://nhhpc.nasa.gov ) and members began identifying collaborative projects as detailed below. In addition, a first workshop in open collaboration and innovation was conducted on January 19, 2011 by the NHHPC resulting in additional challenges and projects for further development. This first workshop was a result of the SLSD successes in running open innovation challenges over the past two years. In 2008, the NASA Johnson Space Center, Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) began pilot projects in open innovation (crowd sourcing) to determine if these new internet-based platforms could indeed find solutions to difficult technical problems. From 2008 to 2010, the SLSD issued 34 challenges, 14 externally and 20 internally. The 14 external challenges were conducted through three different vendors: InnoCentive, Yet2.com and TopCoder. The 20 internal challenges were conducted using the InnoCentive platform, customized to NASA use, and promoted as NASA@Work. The results from the 34 challenges involved not only technical solutions that were reported previously at the 61st IAC, but also the formation of new collaborative relationships. For example, the TopCoder pilot was expanded by the NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate to the NASA Tournament Lab in collaboration with Harvard Business School and TopCoder. Building on these initial successes, the NHHPC workshop in January of 2011, and ongoing NHHPC member discussions, several important collaborations are in development: Space Act Agreement between NASA and GE for collaborative projects, NASA and academia for a Visual Impairment / Intracranial Hypertension summit (February 2011), NASA and the DoD through the Defense Venture Catalyst Initiative (DeVenCI) for a technical needs workshop (June 2011), NASA and the San Diego Zoo

  20. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1992, volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bannerot, Richard B. (Editor); Goldstein, Stanley H. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    The 1992 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by the University of Houston and JSC. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, Washington, DC. The objectives of the program, which began nationally in 1964 and at JSC in 1965, are (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objective of the NASA Centers. This document is a compilation of the final reports 1 through 12.

  1. Strategic Project Management at the NASA Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavelle, Jerome P.

    2000-01-01

    This paper describes Project Management at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from a strategic perspective. It develops the historical context of the agency and center's strategic planning process and illustrates how now is the time for KSC to become a center which has excellence in project management. The author describes project management activities at the center and details observations on those efforts. Finally the author describes the Strategic Project Management Process Model as a conceptual model which could assist KSC in defining an appropriate project management process system at the center.

  2. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) sounding-rocket program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guidotti, J. G.

    1976-01-01

    An overall introduction to the NASA sounding rocket program as managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center is presented. The various sounding rockets, auxiliary systems (telemetry, guidance, etc.), launch sites, and services which NASA can provide are briefly described.

  3. NASA's astrophysics archives at the National Space Science Data Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vansteenberg, M. E.

    1992-01-01

    NASA maintains an archive facility for Astronomical Science data collected from NASA's missions at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) at Goddard Space Flight Center. This archive was created to insure the science data collected by NASA would be preserved and useable in the future by the science community. Through 25 years of operation there are many lessons learned, from data collection procedures, archive preservation methods, and distribution to the community. This document presents some of these more important lessons, for example: KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) in system development. Also addressed are some of the myths of archiving, such as 'scientists always know everything about everything', or 'it cannot possibly be that hard, after all simple data tech's do it'. There are indeed good reasons that a proper archive capability is needed by the astronomical community, the important question is how to use the existing expertise as well as the new innovative ideas to do the best job archiving this valuable science data.

  4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1987, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, William B., Jr. (Editor); Goldstein, Stanley H. (Editor)

    1987-01-01

    The 1987 Johnson Space Center (JCS) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship program was conducted by Texas A and M University and JSC. The 10-week program was operated under the auspices of ASEE. The basic objectives of the program are: to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions; and to contribute to the research objective of the NASA Centers. This document is a compilation of the final reports on the research projects done by the faculty fellows during the summer of 1987.

  5. NASA Johnson Space Center Life Sciences Data System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Hasan; Cardenas, Jeffery

    1994-01-01

    The Life Sciences Project Division (LSPD) at JSC, which manages human life sciences flight experiments for the NASA Life Sciences Division, augmented its Life Sciences Data System (LSDS) in support of the Spacelab Life Sciences-2 (SLS-2) mission, October 1993. The LSDS is a portable ground system supporting Shuttle, Spacelab, and Mir based life sciences experiments. The LSDS supports acquisition, processing, display, and storage of real-time experiment telemetry in a workstation environment. The system may acquire digital or analog data, storing the data in experiment packet format. Data packets from any acquisition source are archived and meta-parameters are derived through the application of mathematical and logical operators. Parameters may be displayed in text and/or graphical form, or output to analog devices. Experiment data packets may be retransmitted through the network interface and database applications may be developed to support virtually any data packet format. The user interface provides menu- and icon-driven program control and the LSDS system can be integrated with other workstations to perform a variety of functions. The generic capabilities, adaptability, and ease of use make the LSDS a cost-effective solution to many experiment data processing requirements. The same system is used for experiment systems functional and integration tests, flight crew training sessions and mission simulations. In addition, the system has provided the infrastructure for the development of the JSC Life Sciences Data Archive System scheduled for completion in December 1994.

  6. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program - 2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bannerot, Richard B. (Editor); Sickorez, Donn G. (Editor)

    2003-01-01

    The 2000 Johnson Space Center (JSC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by the University of Houston and JSC. The 10-week program was operated under the auspices of the ASEE. The program at JSC, as well as the programs at other NASA Centers, was funded by the Office of University Affairs, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The objectives of the program, which began in 1965 at JSC and 1964 nationally, are to (1) further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty, (2) stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA, (3) enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participants' institutions, and (4) contribute to the research objectives of the NASA Centers. Each faculty fellow spent at least 10 weeks at JSC engaged in a research project commensurate with her/his interests and background, and worked in collabroation with a NASA/JSC colleague. This document is a compilation of the final reports on the research projects done by the faculty fellows during the summer of 2000.

  7. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) summer faculty fellowship program, 1986, Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mcinnis, B.; Goldstein, S.

    1987-06-01

    The Johnson Space Center (JSC) NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by the University of Houston. The basic objectives of the program are: (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching objectives of participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objectives of the NASA Centers. Each faculty fellow spent ten weeks at JSC engaged in a research project commensurate with his interests and background and worked in collaboration with a NASA/JSC colleague. Volume 1 contains sections 1 through 14

  8. Optical Fiber Assemblies for Space Flight from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Photonics Group

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ott, Melanie N.; Thoma, William Joe; LaRocca, Frank; Chuska, Richard; Switzer, Robert; Day, Lance

    2009-01-01

    The Photonics Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Electrical Engineering Division of the Advanced Engineering and Technologies Directorate has been involved in the design, development, characterization, qualification, manufacturing, integration and anomaly analysis of optical fiber subsystems for over a decade. The group supports a variety of instrumentation across NASA and outside entities that build flight systems. Among the projects currently supported are: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Science Laboratory, the James Webb Space Telescope, the Express Logistics Carrier for the International Space Station and the NASA Electronic Parts. and Packaging Program. A collection of the most pertinent information gathered during project support over the past year in regards to space flight performance of optical fiber components is presented here. The objective is to provide guidance for future space flight designs of instrumentation and communication systems.

  9. Antarctic Martian Meteorites at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funk, R. C.; Satterwhite, C. E.; Righter, K.; Harrington, R.

    2018-01-01

    This past year marked the 40th anniversary of the first Martian meteorite found in Antarctica by the ANSMET Antarctic Search for Meteorites) program, ALH 77005. Since then, an additional 14 Martian meteorites have been found by the ANSMET program making for a total of 15 Martian meteorites in the U. S. Antarctic meteorite collection at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Of the 15 meteorites, some have been paired so the 15 meteorites actually represent a total of approximately 9 separate samples. The first Martian meteorite found by ANSMET was ALH 77005 (482.500 g), a lherzolitic shergottite. When collected, this meteorite was split as a part of the joint expedition with the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Japan. Originally classified as an "achondrite-unique", it was re-classified as a Martian lherzolitic shergottite in 1982. This meteorite has been allocated to 137 scientists for research and there are 180.934 g remaining at JSC. Two years later, one of the most significant Martian meteorites of the collection at JSC was found at Elephant Moraine, EET 79001 (7942.000 g), a shergottite. This meteorite is the largest in the Martian collection at JSC and was the largest stony meteorite sample collected during the 1979 season. In addition to its size, this meteorite is of particular interest because it contains a linear contact separating two different igneous lithologies, basaltic and olivine-phyric. EET 79001 has glass inclusions that contain noble gas and nitrogen compositions that are proportionally identical to the Martian atmosphere, as measured by the Viking spacecraft. This discovery helped scientists to identify where the "SNC" meteorite suite had originated, and that we actually possessed Martian samples. This meteorite has been allocated to 205 scientists for research and 5,298.435 g of sample is available.

  10. Advancing Innovation Through Collaboration: Implementation of the NASA Space Life Sciences Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey R.; Richard, Elizabeth E.

    2010-01-01

    On October 18, 2010, the NASA Human Health and Performance center (NHHPC) was opened to enable collaboration among government, academic and industry members. Membership rapidly grew to 90 members (http://nhhpc.nasa.gov ) and members began identifying collaborative projects as detailed in this article. In addition, a first workshop in open collaboration and innovation was conducted on January 19, 2011 by the NHHPC resulting in additional challenges and projects for further development. This first workshop was a result of the SLSD successes in running open innovation challenges over the past two years. In 2008, the NASA Johnson Space Center, Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) began pilot projects in open innovation (crowd sourcing) to determine if these new internet-based platforms could indeed find solutions to difficult technical problems. From 2008 to 2010, the SLSD issued 34 challenges, 14 externally and 20 internally. The 14 external challenges were conducted through three different vendors: InnoCentive, Yet2.com and TopCoder. The 20 internal challenges were conducted using the InnoCentive platform, customized to NASA use, and promoted as NASA@Work. The results from the 34 challenges involved not only technical solutions that were reported previously at the 61st IAC, but also the formation of new collaborative relationships. For example, the TopCoder pilot was expanded by the NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate to the NASA Tournament Lab in collaboration with Harvard Business School and TopCoder. Building on these initial successes, the NHHPC workshop in January of 2011, and ongoing NHHPC member discussions, several important collaborations have been developed: (1) Space Act Agreement between NASA and GE for collaborative projects (2) NASA and academia for a Visual Impairment / Intracranial Hypertension summit (February 2011) (3) NASA and the DoD through the Defense Venture Catalyst Initiative (DeVenCI) for a technical needs workshop (June 2011) (4

  11. NASA University Research Centers Technical Advances in Education, Aeronautics, Space, Autonomy, Earth and Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamshidi, M. (Editor); Lumia, R. (Editor); Tunstel, E., Jr. (Editor); White, B. (Editor); Malone, J. (Editor); Sakimoto, P. (Editor)

    1997-01-01

    This first volume of the Autonomous Control Engineering (ACE) Center Press Series on NASA University Research Center's (URC's) Advanced Technologies on Space Exploration and National Service constitute a report on the research papers and presentations delivered by NASA Installations and industry and Report of the NASA's fourteen URC's held at the First National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico from February 16-19, 1997.

  12. Surveillance in a Telemedicine Setting: Application of Epidemiologic Methods at NASA Johnson Space Center Adriana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babiak-Vazquez, Adriana; Ruffaner, Lanie; Wear, Mary; Crucian Brian; Sams, Clarence; Lee, Lesley R.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2016-01-01

    Space medicine presents unique challenges and opportunities for epidemiologists, such as the use of telemedicine during spaceflight. Medical capabilities aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are limited due to severe restrictions on power, volume, and mass. Consequently, inflight health information is based heavily on crewmember (CM) self-report of signs and symptoms, rather than formal diagnoses. While CM's are in flight, the primary source of crew health information is verbal communication between physicians and crewmembers. In 2010 NASA implemented the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, an occupational surveillance program for the U.S. Astronaut corps. This has shifted the epidemiological paradigm from tracking diagnoses based on traditional terrestrial clinical practice to one that incorporates symptomatology and may gain a more population-based understanding of early detection of disease process.

  13. NASA/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1985. [Space Stations and Their Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chilton, R. G. (Editor); Williams, C. E. (Editor)

    1986-01-01

    The 1985 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Research Program was conducted by Texas A&M University and the Johnson Space Center. The ten week program was operated under the auspices of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The faculty fellows spent the time at JSC engaged in research projects commensurate with their interests and background and worked in collaboration with NASA/JSC colleagues. This document is a compilation of the final reports of their research during the summer of 1985.

  14. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Supply Chain Management Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Michael P.

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the working of the Supplier Assessment Program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The program supports many GSFC projects to ensure suppliers are aware of and are following the contractual requirements, to provide an independent assessment of the suppliers' processes, and provide suppliers' safety and mission assurance organizations information to make the changes within their organization.

  15. Innovative Partnerships Program Accomplishments: 2009-2010 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makufka, David

    2010-01-01

    This document reports on the accomplishments of the Innovative Partnerships Program during the two years of 2009 and 2010. The mission of the Innovative Partnerships Program is to provide leveraged technology alternatives for mission directorates, programs, and projects through joint partnerships with industry, academia, government agencies, and national laboratories. As outlined in this accomplishments summary, the IPP at NASA's Kennedy Space Center achieves this mission via two interdependent goals: (1) Infusion: Bringing external technologies and expertise into Kennedy to benefit NASA missions, programs, and projects (2) Technology Transfer: Spinning out space program technologies to increase the benefits for the nation's economy and humanity

  16. NASA Glenn Research Center Solar Cell Experiment Onboard the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Matthew G.; Wolford, David S.; Prokop, Norman F.; Krasowski, Michael J.; Parker, David S.; Cassidy, Justin C.; Davies , William E.; Vorreiter, Janelle O.; Piszczor, Michael F.; Mcnatt, Jeremiah S.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Accurate air mass zero (AM0) measurement is essential for the evaluation of new photovoltaic (PV) technology for space solar cells. The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has flown an experiment designed to measure the electrical performance of several solar cells onboard NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Robotic Refueling Missions (RRM) Task Board 4 (TB4) on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). Four industry and government partners provided advanced PV devices for measurement and orbital environment testing. The experiment was positioned on the exterior of the station for approximately eight months, and was completely self-contained, providing its own power and internal data storage. Several new cell technologies including four-junction (4J) Inverted Metamorphic Multi-junction (IMM) cells were evaluated and the results will be compared to ground-based measurement methods.

  17. NASA reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obrien, John E.; Fisk, Lennard A.; Aldrich, Arnold A.; Utsman, Thomas E.; Griffin, Michael D.; Cohen, Aaron

    1992-01-01

    Activities and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) programs, both ongoing and planned, are described by NASA administrative personnel from the offices of Space Science and Applications, Space Systems Development, Space Flight, Exploration, and from the Johnson Space Center. NASA's multi-year strategic plan, called Vision 21, is also discussed. It proposes to use the unique perspective of space to better understand Earth. Among the NASA programs mentioned are the Magellan to Venus and Galileo to Jupiter spacecraft, the Cosmic Background Explorer, Pegsat (the first Pegasus payload), Hubble, the Joint U.S./German ROSAT X-ray Mission, Ulysses to Jupiter and over the sun, the Astro-Spacelab Mission, and the Gamma Ray Observatory. Copies of viewgraphs that illustrate some of these missions, and others, are provided. Also discussed were life science research plans, economic factors as they relate to space missions, and the outlook for international cooperation.

  18. NASA's engineering research centers and interdisciplinary education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Gordon I.

    1990-01-01

    A new program of interactive education between NASA and the academic community aims to improve research and education, provide long-term, stable funding, and support cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research. The mission of NASA's Office of Aeronautics, Exploration and Technology (OAET) is discussed and it is pointed out that the OAET conducts about 10 percent of its total R&D program at U.S. universities. Other NASA university-based programs are listed including the Office of Commercial Programs Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) and the National Space Grant program. The importance of university space engineering centers and the selection of the nine current centers are discussed. A detailed composite description is provided of the University Space Engineering Research Centers. Other specialized centers are described such as the Center for Space Construction, the Mars Mission Research Center, and the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration. Approaches to educational outreach are discussed.

  19. Space Station: NASA's software development approach increases safety and cost risks. Report to the Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-06-01

    The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology asked NASA to study software development issues for the space station. How well NASA has implemented key software engineering practices for the station was asked. Specifically, the objectives were to determine: (1) if independent verification and validation techniques are being used to ensure that critical software meets specified requirements and functions; (2) if NASA has incorporated software risk management techniques into program; (3) whether standards are in place that will prescribe a disciplined, uniform approach to software development; and (4) if software support tools will help, as intended, to maximize efficiency in developing and maintaining the software. To meet the objectives, NASA proceeded: (1) reviewing and analyzing software development objectives and strategies contained in NASA conference publications; (2) reviewing and analyzing NASA, other government, and industry guidelines for establishing good software development practices; (3) reviewing and analyzing technical proposals and contracts; (4) reviewing and analyzing software management plans, risk management plans, and program requirements; (4) reviewing and analyzing reports prepared by NASA and contractor officials that identified key issues and challenges facing the program; (5) obtaining expert opinions on what constitutes appropriate independent V-and-V and software risk management activities; (6) interviewing program officials at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC; at the Space Station Program Office in Reston, Virginia; and at the three work package centers; Johnson in Houston, Texas; Marshall in Huntsville, Alabama; and Lewis in Cleveland, Ohio; and (7) interviewing contractor officials doing work for NASA at Johnson and Marshall. The audit work was performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards, between April 1991 and May 1992.

  20. Kennedy Space Center's NASA/Contractor Team-Centered Total Quality Management Seminar: Results, methods, and lessons learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinlaw, Dennis C.; Eads, Jeannette

    1992-01-01

    It is apparent to everyone associated with the Nation's aeronautics and space programs that the challenge of continuous improvement can be reasonably addressed only if NASA and its contractors act together in a fully integrated and cooperative manner that transcends the traditional boundaries of proprietary interest. It is, however, one thing to assent to the need for such integration and cooperation; it is quite another thing to undertake the hard tasks of turning such a need into action. Whatever else total quality management is, it is fundamentally a team-centered and team-driven process of continuous improvement. The introduction of total quality management at KSC, therefore, has given the Center a special opportunity to translate the need for closer integration and cooperation among all its organizations into specific initiatives. One such initiative that NASA and its contractors have undertaken at KSC is a NASA/Contractor team-centered Total Quality Management Seminar. It is this seminar which is the subject of this paper. The specific purposes of this paper are to describe the following: Background, development, and evolution of Kennedy Space Center's Total Quality Management Seminar; Special characteristics of the seminar; Content of the seminar; Meaning and utility of a team-centered design for TQM training; Results of the seminar; Use that one KSC contractor, EG&G Florida, Inc. has made of the seminar in its Total Quality Management initiative; and Lessons learned.

  1. NASA Space Launch System Operations Outlook

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hefner, William Keith; Matisak, Brian P.; McElyea, Mark; Kunz, Jennifer; Weber, Philip; Cummings, Nicholas; Parsons, Jeremy

    2014-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), is working with the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program, based at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), to deliver a new safe, affordable, and sustainable capability for human and scientific exploration beyond Earth's orbit (BEO). Larger than the Saturn V Moon rocket, SLS will provide 10 percent more thrust at liftoff in its initial 70 metric ton (t) configuration and 20 percent more in its evolved 130-t configuration. The primary mission of the SLS rocket will be to launch astronauts to deep space destinations in the Orion Multi- Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), also in development and managed by the Johnson Space Center. Several high-priority science missions also may benefit from the increased payload volume and reduced trip times offered by this powerful, versatile rocket. Reducing the lifecycle costs for NASA's space transportation flagship will maximize the exploration and scientific discovery returned from the taxpayer's investment. To that end, decisions made during development of SLS and associated systems will impact the nation's space exploration capabilities for decades. This paper will provide an update to the operations strategy presented at SpaceOps 2012. It will focus on: 1) Preparations to streamline the processing flow and infrastructure needed to produce and launch the world's largest rocket (i.e., through incorporation and modification of proven, heritage systems into the vehicle and ground systems); 2) Implementation of a lean approach to reach-back support of hardware manufacturing, green-run testing, and launch site processing and activities; and 3) Partnering between the vehicle design and operations communities on state-of-the-art predictive operations analysis techniques. An example of innovation is testing the integrated vehicle at the processing facility in parallel, rather than

  2. Space Suits and Crew Survival Systems Branch Education and Public Outreach Support of NASA's Strategic Goals in Fiscal Year 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennings, Mallory A.

    2013-01-01

    As NASA plans to send people beyond low Earth orbit, it is important to educate and inspire the next generation of astronauts, engineers, scientists, and the general public. This is so important to NASA s future that it is one of the agency s strategic goals. The Space Suits and Crew Survival Systems Branch at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is actively involved in achieving this goal by sharing our hardware and technical experts with students, educators, and the general public and educating them about the challenges of human space flight, with Education and Public Outreach (EPO). This paper summarizes the Space Suit and Crew Survival Systems Branch EPO efforts throughout fiscal year 2012.

  3. Using and Distributing Spaceflight Data: The Johnson Space Center Life Sciences Data Archive

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardenas, J. A.; Buckey, J. C.; Turner, J. N.; White, T. S.; Havelka,J. A.

    1995-01-01

    Life sciences data collected before, during and after spaceflight are valuable and often irreplaceable. The Johnson Space Center Life is hard to find, and much of the data (e.g. Sciences Data Archive has been designed to provide researchers, engineers, managers and educators interactive access to information about and data from human spaceflight experiments. The archive system consists of a Data Acquisition System, Database Management System, CD-ROM Mastering System and Catalog Information System (CIS). The catalog information system is the heart of the archive. The CIS provides detailed experiment descriptions (both written and as QuickTime movies), hardware descriptions, hardware images, documents, and data. An initial evaluation of the archive at a scientific meeting showed that 88% of those who evaluated the catalog want to use the system when completed. The majority of the evaluators found the archive flexible, satisfying and easy to use. We conclude that the data archive effectively provides key life sciences data to interested users.

  4. The Ergonomics of Human Space Flight: NASA Vehicles and Spacesuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Christopher R.; Rajulu, Sudhakar

    2014-01-01

    Space...the final frontier...these are the voyages of the starship...wait, wait, wait...that's not right...let's try that again. NASA is currently focusing on developing multiple strategies to prepare humans for a future trip to Mars. This includes (1) learning and characterizing the human system while in the weightlessness of low earth orbit on the International Space Station and (2) seeding the creation of commercial inspired vehicles by providing guidance and funding to US companies. At the same time, NASA is slowly leading the efforts of reestablishing human deep space travel through the development of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) known as Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) with the interim aim of visiting and exploring an asteroid. Without Earth's gravity, current and future human space travel exposes humans to micro- and partial gravity conditions, which are known to force the body to adapt both physically and physiologically. Without the protection of Earth's atmosphere, space is hazardous to most living organisms. To protect themselves from these difficult conditions, Astronauts utilize pressurized spacesuits for both intravehicular travel and extravehicular activities (EVAs). Ensuring a safe living and working environment for space missions requires the creativity of scientists and engineers to assess and mitigate potential risks through engineering designs. The discipline of human factors and ergonomics at NASA is critical in making sure these designs are not just functionally designed for people to use, but are optimally designed to work within the capacities specific to the Astronaut Corps. This lecture will review both current and future NASA vehicles and spacesuits while providing an ergonomic perspective using case studies that were and are being carried out by the Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility (ABF) at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

  5. NASA Space Engineering Research Center for VLSI systems design

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    This annual review reports the center's activities and findings on very large scale integration (VLSI) systems design for 1990, including project status, financial support, publications, the NASA Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) Symposium on VLSI Design, research results, and outreach programs. Processor chips completed or under development are listed. Research results summarized include a design technique to harden complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) memory circuits against single event upset (SEU); improved circuit design procedures; and advances in computer aided design (CAD), communications, computer architectures, and reliability design. Also described is a high school teacher program that exposes teachers to the fundamentals of digital logic design.

  6. The AGI-ASU-NASA Triad Program for K-12 Earth and Space Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pacheco, H. A.; Semken, S. C.; Taylor, W.; Benbow, A. E.

    2011-12-01

    The NASA Triad program of the American Geological Institute (AGI) and Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (ASU SESE) is a three-part effort to promote Earth and space science literacy and STEM education at the national level, funded by NASA through a cooperative agreement starting in 2010. NASA Triad comprises (1) infusion of NASA STEM content into AGI's secondary Earth science curricula; (2) national lead teacher professional development workshops; and (3) an online professional development guide for teachers running NASA STEM workshops. The Triad collaboration draws on AGI's inquiry-based curriculum and teacher professional-development resources and workforce-building programs; ASU SESE's spectrum of research in Mars and Moon exploration, astrobiology, meteoritics, Earth systems, and cyberlearning; and direct access to NASA facilities and dynamic education resources. Triad milestones to date include integration of NASA resources into AGI's print and online curricula and two week-long, national-scale, teacher-leader professional development academies in Earth and space sciences presented at ASU Dietz Museum in Tempe and NASA Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. Robust front-end and formative assessments of these program components, including content gains, teacher-perceived classroom relevance, teacher-cohort lesson development, and teacher workshop design, have been conducted. Quantitative and qualitative findings from these assessment activities have been applied to identify best and most effective practices, which will be disseminated nationally and globally through AGI and NASA channels.

  7. Targeting Absolute Salinity for Earth and Space

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — As part of a grant through a NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) 2011 Innovation Charge Account (ICA), a novel optical sensor was developed and early feasibility...

  8. Applications of Low Density Flow Techniques and Catalytic Recombination at the Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Carl D.

    2000-01-01

    The talk presents a brief background on defInitions of catalysis and effects associated with chemically nonequilibrium and low-density flows of aerospace interest. Applications of catalytic recombination on surfaces in dissociated flow are given, including aero heating on reentry spacecraft thermal protection surfaces and reflection of plume flow on pressure distributions associated with the space station. Examples include aero heating predictions for the X-38 test vehicle, the inlet of a proposed gas-sampling probe used in high enthalpy test facilities, and a parabolic body at angle of attack. The effect of accommodation coefficients on thruster induced pressure distributions is also included. Examples of tools used include simple aero heating formulas based on boundary layer solutions, an engineering approximation that uses axisymmetric viscous shock layer flow to simulate full three dimensional flow, full computational fluid dynamics, and direct simulation Monte-Carlo calculations. Methods of determining catalytic recombination rates in arc jet flow are discus ed. An area of catalysis not fully understood is the formation of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) with gas phase or nano-size metal particles. The Johnson Space Center is making SWNTs using both a laser ablation technique and an electric arc vaporization technique.

  9. A Study of Mars Dust Environment Simulation at NASA Johnson Space Center Energy Systems Test Area Resource Conversion Test Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yuan-Liang Albert

    1999-01-01

    The dust environment on Mars is planned to be simulated in a 20 foot thermal-vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center, Energy Systems Test Area Resource Conversion Test Facility in Houston, Texas. This vacuum chamber will be used to perform tests and study the interactions between the dust in Martian air and ISPP hardware. This project is to research, theorize, quantify, and document the Mars dust/wind environment needed for the 20 foot simulation chamber. This simulation work is to support the safety, endurance, and cost reduction of the hardware for the future missions. The Martian dust environment conditions is discussed. Two issues of Martian dust, (1) Dust Contamination related hazards, and (2) Dust Charging caused electrical hazards, are of our interest. The different methods of dust particles measurement are given. The design trade off and feasibility were studied. A glass bell jar system is used to evaluate various concepts for the Mars dust/wind environment simulation. It was observed that the external dust source injection is the best method to introduce the dust into the simulation system. The dust concentration of 30 Mg/M3 should be employed for preparing for the worst possible Martian atmosphere condition in the future. Two approaches thermal-panel shroud for the hardware conditioning are discussed. It is suggested the wind tunnel approach be used to study the dust charging characteristics then to be apply to the close-system cyclone approach. For the operation cost reduction purpose, a dehumidified ambient air could be used to replace the expensive CO2 mixture for some tests.

  10. Creating the Thermal Environment for Safely Testing the James Webb Space Telescope at the Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homan, Jonathan L.; Lauterbach, John; Garcia, Sam

    2016-01-01

    Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. The chamber was originally built to support testing of the Apollo Service and Command Module for lunar missions, but underwent major modifications to be able to test the James Webb Space Telescope in a simulated deep space environment. To date seven tests have been performed in preparation of testing the flight optics for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Each test has had a uniquie thermal profile and set of thermal requirements for cooling down and warming up, controlling contamination, and releasing condensed air. These range from temperatures from 335K to 15K, with tight uniformity and controllability for maintining thermal stability and pressure control. One unique requirement for two test was structurally proof loading hardware by creating thermal gradients at specific temperatures. This paper will discuss the thermal requirements and goals of the tests, the original requirements of the chamber thermal systems for planned operation, and how the new requirements were met by the team using the hardware, system flexiblilty, and engineering creativity. It will also discuss the mistakes and successes to meet the unique goals, especially when meeting the thermal proof load.

  11. Robust, Radiation Tolerant Command and Data Handling and Power System Electronics from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hanson C.; Fraction, James; Ortiz-Acosta, Melyane; Dakermanji, George; Kercheval, Bradford P.; Hernandez-Pellerano, Amri; Kim, David S.; Jung, David S.; Meyer, Steven E.; Mallik, Udayan; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Goddard Modular Smallsat Architecture (GMSA) is developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to address future reliability along with minimizing cost and schedule challenges for NASA Cubesat and Smallsat missions.

  12. NASA Astronaut Selection 2009: Behavioral Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holland, A.; Sipes, W.; Bevan, G.; Schmidt, L.; Slack, K.; Moomaw, R.; Vanderark, S.

    2011-01-01

    Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) is an operational group under medical sciences at NASA/Johnson Space Center. Astronaut applicant screening and assessment is one function of this group, along with psychological training, inflight behavioral support and family services. Direct BHP assessment spans 6-7 months of a 17-month overall selection process.

  13. NASA's Internal Space Weather Working Group

    Science.gov (United States)

    St. Cyr, O. C.; Guhathakurta, M.; Bell, H.; Niemeyer, L.; Allen, J.

    2011-01-01

    Measurements from many of NASA's scientific spacecraft are used routinely by space weather forecasters, both in the U.S. and internationally. ACE, SOHO (an ESA/NASA collaboration), STEREO, and SDO provide images and in situ measurements that are assimilated into models and cited in alerts and warnings. A number of years ago, the Space Weather laboratory was established at NASA-Goddard, along with the Community Coordinated Modeling Center. Within that organization, a space weather service center has begun issuing alerts for NASA's operational users. NASA's operational user community includes flight operations for human and robotic explorers; atmospheric drag concerns for low-Earth orbit; interplanetary navigation and communication; and the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, high altitude aircraft, and launch vehicles. Over the past three years we have identified internal stakeholders within NASA and formed a Working Group to better coordinate their expertise and their needs. In this presentation we will describe this activity and some of the challenges in forming a diverse working group.

  14. Tissue grown in space in NASA Bioreactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    Dr. Lisa E. Freed of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her colleagues have reported that initially disc-like specimens tend to become spherical in space, demonstrating that tissues can grow and differentiate into distinct structures in microgravity. The Mir Increment 3 (Sept. 16, 1996 - Jan. 22, 1997) samples were smaller, more spherical, and mechanically weaker than Earth-grown control samples. These results demonstrate the feasibility of microgravity tissue engineering and may have implications for long human space voyages and for treating musculoskeletal disorders on earth. Final samples from Mir and Earth appeared histologically cartilaginous throughout their entire cross sections (5-8 mm thick), with the exception of fibrous outer capsules. Constructs grown on Earth (A) appeared to have a more organized extracellular matrix with more uniform collagen orientation as compared with constructs grown on Mir (B), but the average collagen fiber diameter was similar in the two groups (22 +- 2 nm) and comparable to that previously reported for developing articular cartilage. Randomly oriented collagen in Mir samples would be consistent with previous reports that microgravity disrupts fibrillogenesis. These are transmission electron micrographs of constructs from Mir (A) and Earth (B) groups at magnifications of x3,500 and x120,000 (Inset). The work is sponsored by NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research. The bioreactor is managed by the Biotechnology Cell Science Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). NASA-sponsored bioreactor research has been instrumental in helping scientists to better understand normal and cancerous tissue development. In cooperation with the medical community, the bioreactor design is being used to prepare better models of human colon, prostate, breast and ovarian tumors. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  15. NASA's OCA Mirroring System: An Application of Multiagent Systems in Mission Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sierhuis, Maarten; Clancey, William J.; vanHoof, Ron J. J.; Seah, Chin H.; Scott, Michael S.; Nado, Robert A.; Blumenberg, Susan F.; Shafto, Michael G.; Anderson, Brian L.; Bruins, Anthony C.; hide

    2009-01-01

    Orbital Communications Adaptor (OCA) Flight Controllers, in NASA's International Space Station Mission Control Center, use different computer systems to uplink, downlink, mirror, archive, and deliver files to and from the International Space Station (ISS) in real time. The OCA Mirroring System (OCAMS) is a multiagent software system (MAS) that is operational in NASA's Mission Control Center. This paper presents OCAMS and its workings in an operational setting where flight controllers rely on the system 24x7. We also discuss the return on investment, based on a simulation baseline, six months of 24x7 operations at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and a projection of future capabilities. This paper ends with a discussion of the value of MAS and future planned functionality and capabilities.

  16. Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) proposed dual-use technology investment program in intelligent robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erikson, Jon D.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of the proposed Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) precompetitive, dual-use technology investment project in robotics. New robotic technology in advanced robots, which can recognize and respond to their environments and to spoken human supervision so as to perform a variety of combined mobility and manipulation tasks in various sectors, is an obejective of this work. In the U.S. economy, such robots offer the benefits of improved global competitiveness in a critical industrial sector; improved productivity by the end users of these robots; a growing robotics industry that produces jobs and profits; lower cost health care delivery with quality improvements; and, as these 'intelligent' robots become acceptable throughout society, an increase in the standard of living for everyone. In space, such robots will provide improved safety, reliability, and productivity as Space Station evolves, and will enable human space exploration (by human/robot teams). The proposed effort consists of partnerships between manufacturers, universities, and JSC to develop working production prototypes of these robots by leveraging current development by both sides. Currently targeted applications are in the manufacturing, health care, services, and construction sectors of the U.S. economy and in the inspection, servicing, maintenance, and repair aspects of space exploration. But the focus is on the generic software architecture and standardized interfaces for custom modules tailored for the various applications allowing end users to customize a robot as PC users customize PC's. Production prototypes would be completed in 5 years under this proposal.

  17. 77 FR 52067 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-28

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [12-069] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space.... DATES: Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 11:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Local Time. ADDRESSES: NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), The Showroom, Building M-3, NASA Ames Conference Center, 500 Severyns Road, NASA Research...

  18. The Trick Simulation Toolkit: A NASA/Opensource Framework for Running Time Based Physics Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penn, John M.

    2016-01-01

    The Trick Simulation Toolkit is a simulation development environment used to create high fidelity training and engineering simulations at the NASA Johnson Space Center and many other NASA facilities. Its purpose is to generate a simulation executable from a collection of user-supplied models and a simulation definition file. For each Trick-based simulation, Trick automatically provides job scheduling, numerical integration, the ability to write and restore human readable checkpoints, data recording, interactive variable manipulation, a run-time interpreter, and many other commonly needed capabilities. This allows simulation developers to concentrate on their domain expertise and the algorithms and equations of their models. Also included in Trick are tools for plotting recorded data and various other supporting utilities and libraries. Trick is written in C/C++ and Java and supports both Linux and MacOSX computer operating systems. This paper describes Trick's design and use at NASA Johnson Space Center.

  19. Space Life Sciences Research and Education Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coats, Alfred C.

    2001-01-01

    Since 1969, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), a private, nonprofit corporation, has worked closely with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to advance space science and technology and to promote education in those areas. USRA's Division of Space Life Sciences (DSLS) has been NASA's life sciences research partner for the past 18 years. For the last six years, our Cooperative Agreement NCC9-41 for the 'Space Life Sciences Research and Education Program' has stimulated and assisted life sciences research and education at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) - both at the Center and in collaboration with outside academic institutions. To accomplish our objectives, the DSLS has facilitated extramural research, developed and managed educational programs, recruited and employed visiting and staff scientists, and managed scientific meetings.

  20. ACOSS-16 (Active Control of Space Structures)

    Science.gov (United States)

    1982-10-01

    intensity is I. Step 7: Compute K(s) = Kc(SI - A + BKc+ KfC ) _K "Step 8: If K(s)G(s) has desired bandwidth and loop gain, quit. Otherwise, increase q...1293B M/s 230 Hampton, VA 23665 NASA Johnson Space Center ’ 39 Attn: Robert Piland Ms. EA Houston, TX 77058 McDonald Douglas CorpAttn: Mr. Read Johnson

  1. Curating NASA's Past, Present, and Future Extraterrestrial Sample Collections

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, F. M.; Allton, J. H.; Evans, C. A.; Fries, M. D.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Righter, K.; Zeigler, R. A.; Zolensky, M.; Stansbery, E. K.

    2016-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "...curation of all extra-terrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "...documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the past, present, and future activities of the NASA Curation Office.

  2. NASA Johnson Space Center Aircraft Operations Division

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakalyar, John A.

    2018-01-01

    This presentation provides a high-level overview of JSC aircraft and missions. The capabilities, including previous missions and support team, for the Super Guppy Transport (SGT) aircraft are highlighted.

  3. NASA Space Environments Technical Discipline Team Space Weather Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minow, J. I.; Nicholas, A. C.; Parker, L. N.; Xapsos, M.; Walker, P. W.; Stauffer, C.

    2017-12-01

    The Space Environment Technical Discipline Team (TDT) is a technical organization led by NASA's Technical Fellow for Space Environments that supports NASA's Office of the Chief Engineer through the NASA Engineering and Safety Center. The Space Environments TDT conducts independent technical assessments related to the space environment and space weather impacts on spacecraft for NASA programs and provides technical expertise to NASA management and programs where required. This presentation will highlight the status of applied space weather activities within the Space Environment TDT that support development of operational space weather applications and a better understanding of the impacts of space weather on space systems. We will first discuss a tool that has been developed for evaluating space weather launch constraints that are used to protect launch vehicles from hazardous space weather. We then describe an effort to better characterize three-dimensional radiation transport for CubeSat spacecraft and processing of micro-dosimeter data from the International Space Station which the team plans to make available to the space science community. Finally, we will conclude with a quick description of an effort to maintain access to the real-time solar wind data provided by the Advanced Composition Explorer satellite at the Sun-Earth L1 point.

  4. Space Life Sciences at NASA: Spaceflight Health Policy and Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey R.; House, Nancy G.

    2006-01-01

    In January 2005, the President proposed a new initiative, the Vision for Space Exploration. To accomplish the goals within the vision for space exploration, physicians and researchers at Johnson Space Center are establishing spaceflight health standards. These standards include fitness for duty criteria (FFD), permissible exposure limits (PELs), and permissible outcome limits (POLs). POLs delineate an acceptable maximum decrement or change in a physiological or behavioral parameter, as the result of exposure to the space environment. For example cardiovascular fitness for duty standards might be a measurable clinical parameter minimum that allows successful performance of all required duties. An example of a permissible exposure limit for radiation might be the quantifiable limit of exposure over a given length of time (e.g. life time radiation exposure). An example of a permissible outcome limit might be the length of microgravity exposure that would minimize bone loss. The purpose of spaceflight health standards is to promote operational and vehicle design requirements, aid in medical decision making during space missions, and guide the development of countermeasures. Standards will be based on scientific and clinical evidence including research findings, lessons learned from previous space missions, studies conducted in space analog environments, current standards of medical practices, risk management data, and expert recommendations. To focus the research community on the needs for exploration missions, NASA has developed the Bioastronautics Roadmap. The Bioastronautics Roadmap, NASA's approach to identification of risks to human space flight, revised baseline was released in February 2005. This document was reviewed by the Institute of Medicine in November 2004 and the final report was received in October 2005. The roadmap defines the most important research and operational needs that will be used to set policy, standards (define acceptable risk), and

  5. Space Environment Testing of Photovoltaic Array Systems at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Brandon S.; Schneider, Todd A.; Vaughn, Jason A.; Wright, Kenneth H., Jr.

    2015-01-01

    To successfully operate a photovoltaic (PV) array system in space requires planning and testing to account for the effects of the space environment. It is critical to understand space environment interactions not only on the PV components, but also the array substrate materials, wiring harnesses, connectors, and protection circuitry (e.g. blocking diodes). Key elements of the space environment which must be accounted for in a PV system design include: Solar Photon Radiation, Charged Particle Radiation, Plasma, and Thermal Cycling. While solar photon radiation is central to generating power in PV systems, the complete spectrum includes short wavelength ultraviolet components, which photo-ionize materials, as well as long wavelength infrared which heat materials. High energy electron radiation has been demonstrated to significantly reduce the output power of III-V type PV cells; and proton radiation damages material surfaces - often impacting coverglasses and antireflective coatings. Plasma environments influence electrostatic charging of PV array materials, and must be understood to ensure that long duration arcs do not form and potentially destroy PV cells. Thermal cycling impacts all components on a PV array by inducing stresses due to thermal expansion and contraction. Given such demanding environments, and the complexity of structures and materials that form a PV array system, mission success can only be ensured through realistic testing in the laboratory. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a broad space environment test capability to allow PV array designers and manufacturers to verify their system's integrity and avoid costly on-orbit failures. The Marshall Space Flight Center test capabilities are available to government, commercial, and university customers. Test solutions are tailored to meet the customer's needs, and can include performance assessments, such as flash testing in the case of PV cells.

  6. A passion for space adventures of a pioneering female NASA flight controller

    CERN Document Server

    Dyson, Marianne J

    2016-01-01

    Marianne J. Dyson recounts for us a time when women were making the first inroads into space flight control, a previously male-dominated profession. The story begins with the inspiration of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and follows the challenges of pursuing a science career as a woman in the 70s and 80s, when it was far from an easy path.  Dyson relates the first five space shuttle flights from the personal perspective of mission planning and operations in Houston at the Johnson Space Center, based almost exclusively on original sources such as journals and NASA weekly activity reports. The book’s historical details about astronaut and flight controller training exemplify both the humorous and serious aspects of space operations up through the Challenger disaster, including the almost unknown fire in Mission Control during STS-5 that nearly caused an emergency entry of the shuttle.  From an insider with a unique perspective and credentials to match, this a must-read for anyone interested in the worki...

  7. The History of the Animal Care Program at NASA Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan-Mayberry, Noreen; Bassett, Stephanie

    2010-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the work of the Animal Care Program (ACP). Animals have been used early in space exploration to ascertain if it were possible to launch a manned spacecraft. The program is currently involved in many studies that assist in enhancing the scientific knowledge of the effect of space travel. The responsibilities of the ACP are: (1) Organize and supervise animal care operations & activities (research, testing & demonstration). (2) Maintain full accreditation by the International Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) (3) Ensure protocol compliance with IACUC recommendations (4) Training astronauts for in-flight animal experiments (5) Maintain accurate & timely records for all animal research testing approved by JSC IACUC (6) Organize IACUC meetings and assist IACUC members (7) Coordinate IACUC review of the Institutional Program for Humane Care and Use of Animals (every 6 mos)

  8. INSPACE CHEMICAL PROPULSION SYSTEMS AT NASA's MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER: HERITAGE AND CAPABILITIES

    Science.gov (United States)

    McRight, P. S.; Sheehy, J. A.; Blevins, J. A.

    2005-01-01

    NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is well known for its contributions to large ascent propulsion systems such as the Saturn V rocket and the Space Shuttle external tank, solid rocket boosters, and main engines. This paper highlights a lesser known but very rich side of MSFC-its heritage in the development of in-space chemical propulsion systems and its current capabilities for spacecraft propulsion system development and chemical propulsion research. The historical narrative describes the flight development activities associated with upper stage main propulsion systems such as the Saturn S-IVB as well as orbital maneuvering and reaction control systems such as the S-IVB auxiliary propulsion system, the Skylab thruster attitude control system, and many more recent activities such as Chandra, the Demonstration of Automated Rendezvous Technology (DART), X-37, the X-38 de-orbit propulsion system, the Interim Control Module, the US Propulsion Module, and multiple technology development activities. This paper also highlights MSFC s advanced chemical propulsion research capabilities, including an overview of the center s Propulsion Systems Department and ongoing activities. The authors highlight near-term and long-term technology challenges to which MSFC research and system development competencies are relevant. This paper concludes by assessing the value of the full range of aforementioned activities, strengths, and capabilities in light of NASA s exploration missions.

  9. Third Annual Workshop on Space Operations Automation and Robotics (SOAR 1989)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffin, Sandy (Editor)

    1990-01-01

    Papers presented at the Third Annual Workshop on Space Operations Automation and Robotics (SOAR '89), hosted by the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center at Houston, Texas, on July 25 to 27, 1989, are given. Approximately 100 technical papers were presented by experts from NASA, the USAF, universities, and technical companies. Also held were panel discussions on Air Force/NASA Artificial Intelligence Overview and Expert System Verification and Validation.

  10. NASA Kennedy Space Center: Contributions to Sea Turtle Science and Conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Provancha, Jane A.; Phillips, Lynne V.; Mako, Cheryle L.

    2018-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a United States (US) federal agency that oversees US space exploration and aeronautical research. NASA's primary launch site, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is located along the east coast of Florida, on Cape Canaveral and the western Atlantic Ocean. The natural environment within KSC's large land boundaries, not only functions as an extensive safety buffer-area, it performs simultaneously as a wildlife refuge and a national seashore. In the early 1960s, NASA was developing KSC for rocket launches and the US was establishing an awareness of, and commitment to protecting the environment. The US began creating regulations that required the consideration of the environment when taking action on federal land or with federal funds. The timing of the US Endangered Species Act (1973), the US National Environmental Policy Act (1972), coincided with the planning and implementation of the US Space Shuttle Program. This resulted in the first efforts to evaluate the impacts of space launch operation operations on waterways, air quality, habitats, and wildlife. The first KSC fauna and flora baseline studies were predominantly performed by University of Central Florida (then Florida Technological University). Numerous species of relative importance were observed and sea turtles were receiving regulatory review and protection as surveys by Dr. L Ehrhart (UCF) from 1973-1978 described turtles nesting along the KSC beaches and foraging in the KSC lagoon systems. These data were used in the first NASA Environmental Impact Statement for the Space Transportation System (shuttle program) in 1980. In 1982, NASA began a long term ecological monitoring program with contracted scientists on site. This included efforts to track sea turtle status and trends at KSC and maintain protective measures for these species. Many studies and collaborations have occurred on KSC over these last 45 years with agencies (USFWS, NOAA, NAVY), students

  11. The management approach to the NASA space station definition studies at the Manned Spacecraft Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heberlig, J. C.

    1972-01-01

    The overall management approach to the NASA Phase B definition studies for space stations, which were initiated in September 1969 and completed in July 1972, is reviewed with particular emphasis placed on the management approach used by the Manned Spacecraft Center. The internal working organizations of the Manned Spacecraft Center and its prime contractor, North American Rockwell, are delineated along with the interfacing techniques used for the joint Government and industry study. Working interfaces with other NASA centers, industry, and Government agencies are briefly highlighted. The controlling documentation for the study (such as guidelines and constraints, bibliography, and key personnel) is reviewed. The historical background and content of the experiment program prepared for use in this Phase B study are outlined and management concepts that may be considered for future programs are proposed.

  12. NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER AND THE TIDEWATER INTERAGENCY POLLUTION PREVENTION PROGRAM

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Langley Research Center (LaRC) is an 807-acre research center devoted to aeronautics and space research. aRC has initiated a broad-based pollution prevention program guided by a Pollution Prevention Program Plan and implement...

  13. Consolidating NASA's Arc Jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balboni, John A.; Gokcen, Tahir; Hui, Frank C. L.; Graube, Peter; Morrissey, Patricia; Lewis, Ronald

    2015-01-01

    The paper describes the consolidation of NASA's high powered arc-jet testing at a single location. The existing plasma arc-jet wind tunnels located at the Johnson Space Center were relocated to Ames Research Center while maintaining NASA's technical capability to ground-test thermal protection system materials under simulated atmospheric entry convective heating. The testing conditions at JSC were reproduced and successfully demonstrated at ARC through close collaboration between the two centers. New equipment was installed at Ames to provide test gases of pure nitrogen mixed with pure oxygen, and for future nitrogen-carbon dioxide mixtures. A new control system was custom designed, installed and tested. Tests demonstrated the capability of the 10 MW constricted-segmented arc heater at Ames meets the requirements of the major customer, NASA's Orion program. Solutions from an advanced computational fluid dynamics code were used to aid in characterizing the properties of the plasma stream and the surface environment on the calorimeters in the supersonic flow stream produced by the arc heater.

  14. NASA's Corrosion Technology Laboratory at the Kennedy Space Center: Anticipating, Managing, and Preventing Corrosion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calle, Luz Marina

    2015-01-01

    The marine environment at NASAs Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has been documented by ASM International (formerly American Society for Metals) as the most corrosive in North America. With the introduction of the Space Shuttle in 1981, the already highly corrosive conditions at the launch pads were rendered even more severe by the highly corrosive hydrochloric acid (HCl) generated by the solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Numerous failures at the launch pads are caused by corrosion. The structural integrity of ground infrastructure and flight hardware is critical to the success, safety, cost, and sustainability of space missions. NASA has over fifty years of experience dealing with unexpected failures caused by corrosion and has developed expertise in corrosion control in the launch and other environments. The Corrosion Technology Laboratory at KSC evolved, from what started as an atmospheric exposure test site near NASAs launch pads, into a capability that provides technical innovations and engineering services in all areas of corrosion for NASA, external partners, and customers.This paper provides a chronological overview of NASAs role in anticipating, managing, and preventing corrosion in highly corrosive environments. One important challenge in managing and preventing corrosion involves the detrimental impact on humans and the environment of what have been very effective corrosion control strategies. This challenge has motivated the development of new corrosion control technologies that are more effective and environmentally friendly. Strategies for improved corrosion protection and durability can have a huge impact on the economic sustainability of human spaceflight operations.

  15. Lunar and Meteorite Sample Education Disk Program - Space Rocks for Classrooms, Museums, Science Centers, and Libraries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Jaclyn; Luckey, M.; McInturff, B.; Huynh, P.; Tobola, K.; Loftin, L.

    2010-01-01

    NASA is eager for students and the public to experience lunar Apollo samples and meteorites first hand. Lunar rocks and soil, embedded in Lucite disks, are available for educators to use in their classrooms, museums, science centers, and public libraries for education activities and display. The sample education disks are valuable tools for engaging students in the exploration of the Solar System. Scientific research conducted on the Apollo rocks reveals the early history of our Earth-Moon system and meteorites reveal much of the history of the early solar system. The rocks help educators make the connections to this ancient history of our planet and solar system and the basic processes accretion, differentiation, impact and volcanism. With these samples, educators in museums, science centers, libraries, and classrooms can help students and the public understand the key questions pursued by many NASA planetary missions. The Office of the Curator at Johnson Space Center is in the process of reorganizing and renewing the Lunar and Meteorite Sample Education Disk Program to increase reach, security and accountability. The new program expands the reach of these exciting extraterrestrial rocks through increased access to training and educator borrowing. One of the expanded opportunities is that trained certified educators from science centers, museums, and libraries may now borrow the extraterrestrial rock samples. Previously the loan program was only open to classroom educators so the expansion will increase the public access to the samples and allow educators to make the critical connections to the exciting exploration missions taking place in our solar system. Each Lunar Disk contains three lunar rocks and three regolith soils embedded in Lucite. The anorthosite sample is a part of the magma ocean formed on the surface of Moon in the early melting period, the basalt is part of the extensive lunar mare lava flows, and the breccias sample is an important example of the

  16. Science Outreach at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebo, George

    2002-07-01

    At the end of World War II Duane Deming, an internationally known economist enunciated what later came to be called "Total Quality Management" (TQM). The basic thrust of this economic theory called for companies and governments to identify their customers and to do whatever was necessary to meet their demands and to keep them satisfied. It also called for companies to compete internally. That is, they were to build products that competed with their own so that they were always improving. Unfortunately most U.S. corporations failed to heed this advice. Consequently, the Japanese who actively sought Deming's advice and instituted it in their corporate planning, built an economy that outstripped that of the U.S. for the next three to four decades. Only after U.S. corporations reorganized and fashioned joint ventures which incorporated the tenets of TQM with their Japanese competitors did they start to catch up. Other institutions such as the U.S. government and its agencies and schools face the same problem. While the power of the U.S. government is in no danger of being usurped, its agencies and schools face real problems which can be traced back to not heeding Deming's advice. For example, the public schools are facing real pressure from private schools and home school families because they are not meeting the needs of the general public, Likewise, NASA and other government agencies find themselves shortchanged in funding because they have failed to convince the general public that their missions are important. In an attempt to convince the general public that its science mission is both interesting and important, in 1998 the Science Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) instituted a new outreach effort using the interact to reach the general public as well as the students. They have called it 'Science@NASA'.

  17. The NASA Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) Next Generation Space Weather Data Warehouse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddox, M. M.; Kuznetsova, M. M.; Pulkkinen, A. A.; Zheng, Y.; Rastaetter, L.; Chulaki, A.; Pembroke, A. D.; Wiegand, C.; Mullinix, R.; Boblitt, J.; Mendoza, A. M. M.; Swindell, M. J., IV; Bakshi, S. S.; Mays, M. L.; Shim, J. S.; Hesse, M.; Collado-Vega, Y. M.; Taktakishvili, A.; MacNeice, P. J.

    2014-12-01

    The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables, supports, and performs research and development for next generation space science and space weather models. The CCMC currently hosts a large and expanding collection of state-or-the-art, physics-based space weather models that have been developed by the international research community. There are many tools and services provided by the CCMC that are currently available world-wide, along with the ongoing development of new innovative systems and software for research, discovery, validation, visualization, and forecasting. Over the history of the CCMC's existence, there has been one constant engineering challenge - describing, managing, and disseminating data. To address the challenges that accompany an ever-expanding number of models to support, along with a growing catalog of simulation output - the CCMC is currently developing a flexible and extensible space weather data warehouse to support both internal and external systems and applications. This paper intends to chronicle the evolution and future of the CCMC's data infrastructure, and the current infrastructure re-engineering activities that seek to leverage existing community data model standards like SPASE and the IMPEx Simulation Data Model.

  18. Liquid hydrogen production and economics for NASA Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Block, D. L.

    1985-12-01

    Detailed economic analyses for the production of liquid hydrogen used to power the Space Shuttle are presented. The hydrogen production and energy needs of the NASA Kennedy Space Center are reviewed, and steam reformation, polygeneration, and electrolysis for liquid hydrogen production are examined on an equal economic basis. The use of photovoltaics as an electrolysis power source is considered. The 1985 present worth is calculated based on life cycle costs over a 21-year period beginning with full operation in 1990. Two different sets of escalation, inflation, and discount rates are used, with revenue credit being given for energy or other products of the hydrogen production process. The results show that the economic analyses are very dependent on the escalation rates used. The least net present value is found for steam reformation of natural gas, while the best net present value is found for the electrolysis process which includes the phasing of photovoltaics.

  19. Preparing for the High Frontier: The Role and Training of NASA Astronauts in the Post- Space Shuttle Era

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    In May 2010, the National Research Council (NRC) was asked by NASA to address several questions related to the Astronaut Corps. The NRC s Committee on Human Spaceflight Crew Operations was tasked to answer several questions: 1. How should the role and size of the activities managed by the Johnson Space Center Flight Crew Operations Directorate change after space shuttle retirement and completion of the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS)? 2. What are the requirements for crew-related ground-based facilities after the Space Shuttle program ends? 3. Is the fleet of aircraft used for training the Astronaut Corps a cost-effective means of preparing astronauts to meet the requirements of NASA s human spaceflight program? Are there more cost-effective means of meeting these training requirements? Although the future of NASA s human spaceflight program has garnered considerable discussion in recent years and there is considerable uncertainty about what the program will involve in the coming years, the committee was not tasked to address whether human spaceflight should continue or what form it should take. The committee s task restricted it to studying activities managed by the Flight Crew Operations Directorate or those closely related to its activities, such as crew-related ground-based facilities and the training aircraft.

  20. The Trick Simulation Toolkit: A NASA/Open source Framework for Running Time Based Physics Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penn, John M.; Lin, Alexander S.

    2016-01-01

    This paper describes the design and use at of the Trick Simulation Toolkit, a simulation development environment for creating high fidelity training and engineering simulations at the NASA Johnson Space Center and many other NASA facilities. It describes Trick's design goals and how the development environment attempts to achieve those goals. It describes how Trick is used in some of the many training and engineering simulations at NASA. Finally it describes the Trick NASA/Open source project on Github.

  1. Space Environmental Effects (SEE) Testing Capability: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWittBurns, H.; Crave, Paul; Finckenor, Miria; Finchum, Charles; Nehls, Mary; Schneider, Todd; Vaughn, Jason

    2012-01-01

    Understanding the effects of the space environment on materials and systems is fundamental and essential for mission success. If not properly understood and designed for, the space environment can lead to materials degradation, reduction of functional lifetime, and system failure. Ground based testing is critical in predicting performance NASA/MSFC's expertise and capabilities make up the most complete SEE testing capability available.

  2. A Decade of Friction Stir Welding R and D at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and a Glance into the Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Jeff; Carter, Bob; Lawless, Kirby; Nunes, Arthur; Russell, Carolyn; Suites, Michael; Schneider, Judy

    2006-01-01

    Welding at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, Alabama, has taken a new direction through the last 10 years. Fusion welding processes, namely variable polarity plasma arc (VPPA) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) were once the corner stone of welding development in the Space Flight Center's welding laboratories, located in the part of MSFC know as National Center for Advanced Manufacturing (NCM). Developed specifically to support the Shuttle Program's External Tank and later International Space Station manufacturing programs, was viewed as the paragon of welding processes for joining aluminum alloys. Much has changed since 1994, however, when NASA's Jeff Ding brought the FSW process to the NASA agency. Although, at that time, FSW was little more than a "lab curiosity", NASA researchers started investigating where the FSW process would best fit NASA manufacturing programs. A laboratory FSW system was procured and the first welds were made in fall of 1995. The small initial investment NASA made into the first FSW system has certainly paid off for the NASA agency in terms of cost savings, hardware quality and notoriety. FSW is now a part of Shuttle External Tank (ET) production and the preferred weld process for the manufacturing of components for the new Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) and Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLLV) that will take this country back to the moon. It is one of the solid state welding processes being considered for on-orbit space welding and repair, and is of considerable interest for Department of Defense @OD) manufacturing programs. MSFC involvement in these and other programs makes NASA a driving force in this country's development of FSW and other solid state welding technologies. Now, a decade later, almost the entire on-going welding R&D at MSFC now focuses on FSW and other more advanced solid state welding processes.

  3. Marshall Space Flight Center Technology Investments Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinker, Mike

    2014-01-01

    NASA is moving forward with prioritized technology investments that will support NASA's exploration and science missions, while benefiting other Government agencies and the U.S. aerospace enterprise. center dotThe plan provides the guidance for NASA's space technology investments during the next four years, within the context of a 20-year horizon center dotThis plan will help ensure that NASA develops technologies that enable its 4 goals to: 1.Sustain and extend human activities in space, 2.Explore the structure, origin, and evolution of the solar system, and search for life past and present, 3.Expand our understanding of the Earth and the universe and have a direct and measurable impact on how we work and live, and 4.Energize domestic space enterprise and extend benefits of space for the Nation.

  4. Johnson Space Center's Role in a Sustainable Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewert, Michael K.

    2004-01-01

    NASA scientists and many others are contributing to the growing knowledge of our Earth and its ecosystems. Satellites measure sea level rise, and changes in vegetation and air pollutants that travel between countries and continents. The U.S. federal government seeks to be a leader in environmental sustainability efforts through various Executive Orders and policies that save energy, reduce waste, and encourage less reliance on oil as an energy source. NASA, as an agency that is by nature focused on the future, has much to contribute to these efforts. The NASA mission is 'To understand and protect our home planet, to explore the universe and search for life, to inspire the next generation of explorers as only NASA can.' Pollution prevention, affirmative procurement and sustainable design are all programs that are under way at NASA. But more can be done. By sharing ideas and learning from other organizations as well as from the talented workforce we are a part of, JSC can improve its sustainability performance and spread the benefits to our community.

  5. Modeling to Mars: a NASA Model Based Systems Engineering Pathfinder Effort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phojanamongkolkij, Nipa; Lee, Kristopher A.; Miller, Scott T.; Vorndran, Kenneth A.; Vaden, Karl R.; Ross, Eric P.; Powell, Bobby C.; Moses, Robert W.

    2017-01-01

    The NASA Engineering Safety Center (NESC) Systems Engineering (SE) Technical Discipline Team (TDT) initiated the Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Pathfinder effort in FY16. The goals and objectives of the MBSE Pathfinder include developing and advancing MBSE capability across NASA, applying MBSE to real NASA issues, and capturing issues and opportunities surrounding MBSE. The Pathfinder effort consisted of four teams, with each team addressing a particular focus area. This paper focuses on Pathfinder team 1 with the focus area of architectures and mission campaigns. These efforts covered the timeframe of February 2016 through September 2016. The team was comprised of eight team members from seven NASA Centers (Glenn Research Center, Langley Research Center, Ames Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center IV&V Facility, Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Stennis Space Center). Collectively, the team had varying levels of knowledge, skills and expertise in systems engineering and MBSE. The team applied their existing and newly acquired system modeling knowledge and expertise to develop modeling products for a campaign (Program) of crew and cargo missions (Projects) to establish a human presence on Mars utilizing In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Pathfinder team 1 developed a subset of modeling products that are required for a Program System Requirement Review (SRR)/System Design Review (SDR) and Project Mission Concept Review (MCR)/SRR as defined in NASA Procedural Requirements. Additionally, Team 1 was able to perform and demonstrate some trades and constraint analyses. At the end of these efforts, over twenty lessons learned and recommended next steps have been identified.

  6. NASA Pathways Internship: Spring 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvarez, Oscar, III

    2016-01-01

    I was selected to contribute to the Data Systems and Handling Branch under the Avionics Flight Systems Division at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. There I used my knowledge from school, as well as my job experience from the military, to help me comprehend my assigned project and contribute to it. With help from my mentors, supervisors, colleagues, and an excellent NASA work environment, I was able to learn, as well as accomplish, a lot towards my project. Not only did I understand more about embedded systems, microcontrollers, and low-level programming, I also was given the opportunity to explore the NASA community.

  7. Curating NASA's Future Extraterrestrial Sample Collections: How Do We Achieve Maximum Proficiency?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, Francis; Evans, Cynthia; Zeigler, Ryan; Allton, Judith; Fries, Marc; Righter, Kevin; Zolensky, Michael

    2016-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "The curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "... documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the future activities of the NASA Curation Office are working towards a state of maximum proficiency.

  8. Further Analyses of the NASA Glenn Research Center Solar Cell and Photovoltaic Materials Experiment Onboard the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Matthew G.; Prokop, Norman F.; Krasowski, Michael J.; Piszczor, Michael F.; McNatt, Jeremiah S.

    2016-01-01

    Accurate air mass zero (AM0) measurement is essential for the evaluation of new photovoltaic (PV) technology for space solar cells. The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has flown an experiment designed to measure the electrical performance of several solar cells onboard NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Robotic Refueling Mission's (RRM) Task Board 4 (TB4) on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). Four industry and government partners provided advanced PV devices for measurement and orbital environment testing. The experiment was positioned on the exterior of the station for approximately eight months, and was completely self-contained, providing its own power and internal data storage. Several new cell technologies including four-junction (4J) Inverted Metamorphic Multi-Junction (IMM) cells were evaluated and the results will be compared to ground-based measurement methods.

  9. Center for Space Power, Texas A and M University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Ken

    Johnson Controls is a 106 year old company employing 42,000 people worldwide with $4.7 billion annual sales. Though we are new to the aerospace industry we are a world leader in automobile battery manufacturing, automotive seating, plastic bottling, and facilities environment controls. The battery division produces over 24,000,000 batteries annually under private label for the new car manufacturers and the replacement market. We are entering the aerospace market with the nickel hydrogen battery with the help of NASA's Center for Space Power at Texas A&M. Unlike traditional nickel hydrogen battery manufacturers, we are reaching beyond the space applications to the higher volume markets of aircraft starting and utility load leveling. Though space applications alone will not provide sufficient volume to support the economies of scale and opportunities for statistical process control, these additional terrestrial applications will. For example, nickel hydrogen batteries do not have the environmental problems of nickel cadmium or lead acid and may someday start your car or power your electric vehicle. However you envision the future, keep in mind that no manufacturer moves into a large volume market without fine tuning their process. The Center for Space Power at Texas A&M is providing indepth technical analysis of all of the materials and fabricated parts of our battery as well as thermal and mechanical design computer modeling. Several examples of what we are doing with nickel hydrogen chemistry to lead to these production efficiencies are presented.

  10. NASA Human Health and Performance Information Architecture Panel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson-Throop, Kathy; Kadwa, Binafer; VanBaalen, Mary

    2014-01-01

    The Human Health and Performance (HH&P) Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center has a mission to enable optimization of human health and performance throughout all phases of spaceflight. All HH&P functions are ultimately aimed at achieving this mission. Our activities enable mission success, optimizing human health and productivity in space before, during, and after the actual spaceflight experience of our crews, and include support for ground-based functions. Many of our spaceflight innovations also provide solutions for terrestrial challenges, thereby enhancing life on Earth.

  11. Crew and Thermal Systems Strategic Communications Initiatives in Support of NASA's Strategic Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Heather L.

    2012-01-01

    NASA has defined strategic goals to invest in next-generation technologies and innovations, to inspire students to become the future leaders of space exploration, and to expand partnerships with industry and academia around the world. The Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) at the NASA Johnson Space Center actively supports these NASA initiatives. In July 2011, CTSD created a strategic communications team to communicate CTSD capabilities, technologies, and personnel to internal NASA and external technical audiences for business development and collaborative initiatives, and to students, educators, and the general public for education and public outreach efforts. This paper summarizes the CTSD Strategic Communications efforts and metrics through the first nine months of fiscal year 2012.

  12. Selection of a Data Acquisition and Controls System Communications and Software Architecture for Johnson Space Center's Space Environment Simulation Laboratory Thermal and Vacuum Test Facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, Eric A.

    2004-01-01

    Upgrade of data acquisition and controls systems software at Johnson Space Center's Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) involved the definition, evaluation and selection of a system communication architecture and software components. A brief discussion of the background of the SESL and its data acquisition and controls systems provides a context for discussion of the requirements for each selection. Further framework is provided as upgrades to these systems accomplished in the 1990s and in 2003 are compared to demonstrate the role that technological advances have had in their improvement. Both of the selections were similar in their three phases; 1) definition of requirements, 2) identification of candidate products and their evaluation and testing and 3) selection by comparison of requirement fulfillment. The candidates for the communication architecture selection embraced several different methodologies which are explained and contrasted. Requirements for this selection are presented and the selection process is described. Several candidates for the software component of the data acquisition and controls system are identified, requirements for evaluation and selection are presented, and the evaluation process is described.

  13. NASA's Corrosion Technology Laboratory at the Kennedy Space Center: Anticipating, Managing, and Preventing Corrosion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calle, Luz Marina

    2014-01-01

    Corrosion is the degradation of a material that results from its interaction with the environment. The marine environment at NASAs Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has been documented by ASM International (formerly American Society for Metals) as the most corrosive in the United States. With the introduction of the Space Shuttle in 1981, the already highly corrosive conditions at the launch pads were rendered even more severe by the 70 tons of highly corrosive hydrochloric acid that were generated by the solid rocket boosters. Numerous failures at the launch pads are caused by corrosion.The structural integrity of ground infrastructure and flight hardware is critical to the success, safety, cost, and sustainability of space missions. As a result of fifty years of experience with launch and ground operations in a natural marine environment that is highly corrosive, NASAs Corrosion Technology Laboratory at KSC is a major source of corrosion control expertise in the launch and other environments. Throughout its history, the Laboratory has evolved from what started as an atmospheric exposure facility near NASAs launch pads into a world-wide recognized capability that provides technical innovations and engineering services in all areas of corrosion for NASA and external customers.This presentation will provide a historical overview of the role of NASAs Corrosion Technology in anticipating, managing, and preventing corrosion. One important challenge in managing and preventing corrosion involves the detrimental impact on humans and the environment of what have been very effective corrosion control strategies. This challenge has motivated the development of new corrosion control technologies that are more effective and environmentally friendly. Strategies for improved corrosion protection and durability can have a huge impact on the economic sustainability of human spaceflight operations.

  14. Aerial view of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-01-01

    The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center, shown in this aerial view looking south, sprawls across 70 acres on Florida's Space Coast , and is located off State Road 405, NASA Parkway, six miles inside the Space Center entrance. SR 405 can be seen at the bottom of the photo. Just above the roadway, from left can be seen the Shuttle/Gantry mockup; the Post Show Dome; the Astronaut Memorial; and to the far right, the Center for Space Education. Behind the Memorial are a cluster of buildings that include the Theater Complex, Cafeteria, Space Flight Exhibit Building, Souvenir Sales Building, Spaceport Central, and Ticket Pavilion. At the upper right are various rockets that have played a significant role in the growth of the space program.

  15. Historical perspectives - The role of the NASA Lewis Research Center in the national space nuclear power programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomfield, H. S.; Sovie, R. J.

    1991-01-01

    The history of the NASA Lewis Research Center's role in space nuclear power programs is reviewed. Lewis has provided leadership in research, development, and the advancement of space power and propulsion systems. Lewis' pioneering efforts in nuclear reactor technology, shielding, high temperature materials, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mechanical and direct energy conversion, high-energy propellants, electric propulsion and high performance rocket fuels and nozzles have led to significant technical and management roles in many natural space nuclear power and propulsion programs.

  16. Historical perspectives: The role of the NASA Lewis Research Center in the national space nuclear power programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomfield, H. S.; Sovie, R. J.

    1991-01-01

    The history of the NASA Lewis Research Center's role in space nuclear power programs is reviewed. Lewis has provided leadership in research, development, and the advancement of space power and propulsion systems. Lewis' pioneering efforts in nuclear reactor technology, shielding, high temperature materials, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mechanical and direct energy conversion, high-energy propellants, electric propulsion and high performance rocket fuels and nozzles have led to significant technical and management roles in many national space nuclear power and propulsion programs.

  17. National Space Science Data Center Master Catalog

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The National Space Science Data Center serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. 'Space science' means astronomy and astrophysics, solar...

  18. The NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program: Accomplishments Since 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rask, Jon; Gibbs, Kristina; Ray, Hami; Bridges, Desireemoi; Bailey, Brad; Smith, Jeff; Sato, Kevin; Taylor, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    The NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) provides undergraduate students entering their junior or senior years with professional experience in space life science disciplines. This challenging ten-week summer program is held at NASA Ames Research Center. The primary goal of the program is to train the next generation of scientists and engineers, enabling NASA to meet future research and development challenges in the space life sciences. Students work closely with NASA scientists and engineers on cutting-edge research and technology development. In addition to conducting hands-on research and presenting their findings, SLSTP students attend technical lectures given by experts on a wide range of topics, tour NASA research facilities, participate in leadership and team building exercises, and complete a group project. For this presentation, we will highlight program processes, accomplishments, goals, and feedback from alumni and mentors since 2013. To date, 49 students from 41 different academic institutions, 9 staffers, and 21 mentors have participated in the program. The SLSTP is funded by Space Biology, which is part of the Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Application division of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The SLSTP is managed by the Space Biology Project within the Science Directorate at Ames Research Center.

  19. Flight Planning Branch NASA Co-op Tour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marr, Aja M.

    2013-01-01

    This semester I worked with the Flight Planning Branch at the NASA Johnson Space Center. I learned about the different aspects of flight planning for the International Space Station as well as the software that is used internally and ISSLive! which is used to help educate the public on the space program. I had the opportunity to do on the job training in the Mission Control Center with the planning team. I transferred old timeline records from the planning team's old software to the new software in order to preserve the data for the future when the software is retired. I learned about the operations of the International Space Station, the importance of good communication between the different parts of the planning team, and enrolled in professional development classes as well as technical classes to learn about the space station.

  20. Human Factors Interface with Systems Engineering for NASA Human Spaceflights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Douglas T.

    2009-01-01

    This paper summarizes the past and present successes of the Habitability and Human Factors Branch (HHFB) at NASA Johnson Space Center s Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) in including the Human-As-A-System (HAAS) model in many NASA programs and what steps to be taken to integrate the Human-Centered Design Philosophy (HCDP) into NASA s Systems Engineering (SE) process. The HAAS model stresses systems are ultimately designed for the humans; the humans should therefore be considered as a system within the systems. Therefore, the model places strong emphasis on human factors engineering. Since 1987, the HHFB has been engaging with many major NASA programs with much success. The HHFB helped create the NASA Standard 3000 (a human factors engineering practice guide) and the Human Systems Integration Requirements document. These efforts resulted in the HAAS model being included in many NASA programs. As an example, the HAAS model has been successfully introduced into the programmatic and systems engineering structures of the International Space Station Program (ISSP). Success in the ISSP caused other NASA programs to recognize the importance of the HAAS concept. Also due to this success, the HHFB helped update NASA s Systems Engineering Handbook in December 2007 to include HAAS as a recommended practice. Nonetheless, the HAAS model has yet to become an integral part of the NASA SE process. Besides continuing in integrating HAAS into current and future NASA programs, the HHFB will investigate incorporating the Human-Centered Design Philosophy (HCDP) into the NASA SE Handbook. The HCDP goes further than the HAAS model by emphasizing a holistic and iterative human-centered systems design concept.

  1. Evolution of the Systems Engineering Education Development (SEED) Program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagg, Thomas C., III; Brumfield, Mark D.; Jamison, Donald E.; Granata, Raymond L.; Casey, Carolyn A.; Heller, Stuart

    2003-01-01

    The Systems Engineering Education Development (SEED) Program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center develops systems engineers from existing discipline engineers. The program has evolved significantly since the report to INCOSE in 2003. This paper describes the SEED Program as it is now, outlines the changes over the last year, discusses current status and results, and shows the value of human systems and leadership skills for practicing systems engineers.

  2. Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networks for Human Space Flight Video Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fink, Patrick W.; Ngo, Phong; Schlesinger, Adam

    2010-01-01

    The movie describes collaboration between NASA and Vint Cerf on the development of Disruption Tolerant Networks (DTN) for use in space exploration. Current evaluation efforts at Johnson Space Center are focused on the use of DTNs in space communications. Tests include the ability of rovers to store data for later display, tracking local and remote habitat inventory using radio-frequency identification tags, and merging networks.

  3. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Development Activities at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center - 2006 Accomplishments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballard, Richard O.

    2007-01-01

    In 2005-06, the Prometheus program funded a number of tasks at the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to support development of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) system for future manned exploration missions. These tasks include the following: 1. NTP Design Develop Test & Evaluate (DDT&E) Planning 2. NTP Mission & Systems Analysis / Stage Concepts & Engine Requirements 3. NTP Engine System Trade Space Analysis and Studies 4. NTP Engine Ground Test Facility Assessment 5. Non-Nuclear Environmental Simulator (NTREES) 6. Non-Nuclear Materials Fabrication & Evaluation 7. Multi-Physics TCA Modeling. This presentation is a overview of these tasks and their accomplishments

  4. Training for life science experiments in space at the NASA Ames Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Annette T.; Maese, A. Christopher

    1993-01-01

    As this country prepares for exploration to other planets, the need to understand the affects of long duration exposure to microgravity is evident. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center's Space Life Sciences Payloads Office is responsible for a number of non-human life sciences payloads on NASA's Space Shuttle's Spacelab. Included in this responsibility is the training of those individuals who will be conducting the experiments during flight, the astronauts. Preparing a crew to conduct such experiments requires training protocols that build on simple tasks. Once a defined degree of performance proficiency is met for each task, these tasks are combined to increase the complexity of the activities. As tasks are combined into in-flight operations, they are subjected to time constraints and the crew enhances their skills through repetition. The science objectives must be completely understood by the crew and are critical to the overall training program. Completion of the in-flight activities is proof of success. Because the crew is exposed to the background of early research and plans for post-flight analyses, they have a vested interest in the flight activities. The salient features of this training approach is that it allows for flexibility in implementation, consideration of individual differences, and a greater ability to retain experiment information. This training approach offers another effective alternative training tool to existing methodologies.

  5. Two Micron Laser Technology Advancements at NASA Langley Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Upendra N.

    2010-01-01

    An Independent Laser Review Panel set up to examine NASA s space-based lidar missions and the technology readiness of lasers appropriate for space-based lidars indicated a critical need for an integrated research and development strategy to move laser transmitter technology from low technical readiness levels to the higher levels required for space missions. Based on the review, a multiyear Laser Risk Reduction Program (LRRP) was initiated by NASA in 2002 to develop technologies that ensure the successful development of the broad range of lidar missions envisioned by NASA. This presentation will provide an overview of the development of pulsed 2-micron solid-state laser technologies at NASA Langley Research Center for enabling space-based measurement of wind and carbon dioxide.

  6. Rust Contamination from Water Leaks in the Cosmic Dust Lab and Lunar and Meteorite Thin Sections Labs at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, J. J.; Berger, E. L.; Fries, M. D.; Bastien, R.; McCubbin, F. M.; Pace, L.; Righter, K.; Sutter, B.; Zeigler, R. A.; Zolensky, M.

    2017-01-01

    On the early morning of September 15th, 2016, on the first floor of Building 31 at NASA-Johnson Space Center, the hose from a water chiller ruptured and began spraying water onto the floor. The water had been circulating though old metal pipes, and the leaked water contained rust-colored particulates. The water flooded much of the western wing of the building's ground floor before the leak was stopped, and it left behind a residue of rust across the floor, most notably in the Apollo and Meteorite Thin Section Labs and Sample Preparation Lab. No samples were damaged in the event, and the affected facilities are in the process of remediation. At the beginning of 2016, a separate leak occurred in the Cosmic Dust Lab, located in the same building. In that lab, a water leak occurred at the bottom of the sink used to clean the lab's tools and containers with ultra-pure water. Over years of use, the ultra-pure water eroded the metal sink piping and leaked water onto the inside of the lab's flow bench. This water also left behind a film of rusty material. The material was cleaned up and the metal piping was replaced with PVC pipe and sealed with Teflon plumber's tape. Samples of the rust detritus were collected from both incidents. These samples were imaged and analyzed to determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. The purpose of these analyses is to document the nature of the detritus for future reference in the unlikely event that these materials occur as contaminants in the Cosmic Dust samples or Apollo or Meteorite thin sections.

  7. Plant Atrium System for Food Production in NASA's Deep Space Habitat Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massa, Gioia D.; Simpson, Morgan; Wheeler, Raymond M.; Newsham, Gerald; Stutte, Gary W.

    2013-01-01

    In preparation for future human exploration missions to space, NASA evaluates habitat concepts to assess integration issues, power requirements, crew operations, technology, and system performance. The concept of a Food Production System utilizes fresh foods, such as vegetables and small fruits, harvested on a continuous basis, to improve the crew's diet and quality of life. The system would need to fit conveniently into the habitat and not interfere with other components or operations. To test this concept, a plant growing "atrium" was designed to surround the lift between the lower and upper modules of the Deep Space Habitat and deployed at NASA Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) test site in 2011 and at NASA Johnson Space Center in 2012. With this approach, no-utilized volume provided an area for vegetable growth. For the 2011 test, mizuna, lettuce, basil, radish and sweetpotato plants were grown in trays using commercially available red I blue LED light fixtures. Seedlings were transplanted into the atrium and cared for by the. crew. Plants were then harvested two weeks later following completion of the test. In 2012, mizuna, lettuce, and radish plants were grown similarly but under flat panel banks of white LEDs. In 2012, the crew went through plant harvesting, including sanitizing tlie leafy greens and radishes, which were then consumed. Each test demonstrated successful production of vegetables within a functional hab module. The round red I blue LEDs for the 2011 test lighting cast a purple light in the hab, and were less uniformly distributed over the plant trays. The white LED panels provided broad spectrum light with more uniform distribution. Post-test questionnaires showed that the crew enjoyed tending and consuming the plants and that the white LED light in 2012 provided welcome extra light for the main HAB AREA.

  8. Plasma Liner Research for MTF at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thio, Y. C. F.; Eskridge, R.; Lee, M.; Martin, A.; Smith, J.; Cassibry, J. T.; Wu, S. T.; Kirkpatrick, R. C.; Knapp, C. E.; Turchi, P. J.; hide

    2002-01-01

    The current research effort at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in MTF is directed towards exploring the critical physics issues of potential embodiments of MTF for propulsion, especially standoff drivers involving plasma liners for MTF. There are several possible approaches for forming plasma liners. One approach consists of using a spherical array of plasma jets to form a spherical plasma shell imploding towards the center of a magnetized plasma, a compact toroid. Current experimental plan and status to explore the physics of forming a 2-D plasma liner (shell) by merging plasma jets are described. A first-generation coaxial plasma guns (Mark-1) to launch the required plasma jets have been built and tested. Plasma jets have been launched reproducibly with a low jitter, and velocities in excess of 50 km/s for the leading edge of the plasma jet. Some further refinements are being explored for the plasma gun, Successful completion of these single-gun tests will be followed by an experimental exploration of the problems of launching a multiple number of these jets simultaneously to form a cylindrical plasma liner.

  9. Security for safety critical space borne systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legrand, Sue

    1987-01-01

    The Space Station contains safety critical computer software components in systems that can affect life and vital property. These components require a multilevel secure system that provides dynamic access control of the data and processes involved. A study is under way to define requirements for a security model providing access control through level B3 of the Orange Book. The model will be prototyped at NASA-Johnson Space Center.

  10. Crew and Thermal Systems Strategic Communications Initiatives in Support of NASA's Strategic Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Heather L.; Lamberth, Erika Guillory; Jennings, Mallory A.

    2012-01-01

    NASA has defined strategic goals to invest in next-generation technologies and innovations, inspire students to become the future leaders of space exploration, and expand partnerships with industry and academia around the world. The Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) at the NASA Johnson Space Center actively supports these NASA initiatives. In July 2011, CTSD created a strategic communications team to communicate CTSD capabilities, technologies, and personnel to external technical audiences for business development and collaborative initiatives, and to students, educators, and the general public for education and public outreach efforts. This paper summarizes the CTSD Strategic Communications efforts and metrics through the first half of fiscal year 2012 with projections for end of fiscal year data.

  11. A Process for Comparing Dynamics of Distributed Space Systems Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cures, Edwin Z.; Jackson, Albert A.; Morris, Jeffery C.

    2009-01-01

    The paper describes a process that was developed for comparing the primary orbital dynamics behavior between space systems distributed simulations. This process is used to characterize and understand the fundamental fidelities and compatibilities of the modeling of orbital dynamics between spacecraft simulations. This is required for high-latency distributed simulations such as NASA s Integrated Mission Simulation and must be understood when reporting results from simulation executions. This paper presents 10 principal comparison tests along with their rationale and examples of the results. The Integrated Mission Simulation (IMSim) (formerly know as the Distributed Space Exploration Simulation (DSES)) is a NASA research and development project focusing on the technologies and processes that are related to the collaborative simulation of complex space systems involved in the exploration of our solar system. Currently, the NASA centers that are actively participating in the IMSim project are the Ames Research Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Johnson Space Center (JSC), the Kennedy Space Center, the Langley Research Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center. In concept, each center participating in IMSim has its own set of simulation models and environment(s). These simulation tools are used to build the various simulation products that are used for scientific investigation, engineering analysis, system design, training, planning, operations and more. Working individually, these production simulations provide important data to various NASA projects.

  12. Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar Developments at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rincon, Rafael; Fatoyinbo, Temilola; Osmanoglu, Batuhan; Lee, Seung Kuk; Du Toit, Cornelis F.; Perrine, Martin; Ranson, K. Jon; Sun, Guoqing; Deshpande, Manohar; Beck, Jaclyn; hide

    2016-01-01

    Advanced Digital Beamforming (DBF) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology is an area of research and development pursued at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Advanced SAR architectures enhances radar performance and opens a new set of capabilities in radar remote sensing. DBSAR-2 and EcoSAR are two state-of-the-art radar systems recently developed and tested. These new instruments employ multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) architectures characterized by multi-mode operation, software defined waveform generation, digital beamforming, and configurable radar parameters. The instruments have been developed to support several disciplines in Earth and Planetary sciences. This paper describes the radars advanced features and report on the latest SAR processing and calibration efforts.

  13. NASA Center for Computational Sciences: History and Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-01-01

    The Nasa Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS) has been a leading capacity computing facility, providing a production environment and support resources to address the challenges facing the Earth and space sciences research community.

  14. NASA's Planned Fuel Cell Development Activities for 2009 and Beyond in Support of the Exploration Vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoberecht, Mark A.

    2010-01-01

    NASA s Energy Storage Project is one of many technology development efforts being implemented as part of the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP), under the auspices of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD). The Energy Storage Project is a focused technology development effort to advance lithium-ion battery and proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technologies to meet the specific power and energy storage needs of NASA Exploration missions. The fuel cell portion of the project has as its focus the development of both primary fuel cell power systems and regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage systems, and is led by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in partnership with the Johnson Space Center (JSC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), academia, and industrial partners. The development goals are to improve stack electrical performance, reduce system mass and parasitic power requirements, and increase system life and reliability.

  15. Overview of Additive Manufacturing Initiatives at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clinton, R. G., Jr.

    2018-01-01

    NASA's In Space Manufacturing Initiative (ISM) includes: The case for ISM - why; ISM path to exploration - results from the 3D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration - ISM challenges; In space Robotic Manufacturing and Assembly (IRMA); Additive construction. Additively Manufacturing (AM) development for liquid rocket engine space flight hardware. MSFC standard and specification for additively manufactured space flight hardware. Summary.

  16. Configuration Management (CM) Support for KM Processes at NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cioletti, Louis

    2010-01-01

    Collection and processing of information are critical aspects of every business activity from raw data to information to an executable decision. Configuration Management (CM) supports KM practices through its automated business practices and its integrated operations within the organization. This presentation delivers an overview of JSC/Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) and its methods to encourage innovation through collaboration and participation. Specifically, this presentation will illustrate how SLSD CM creates an embedded KM activity with an established IT platform to control and update baselines, requirements, documents, schedules, budgets, while tracking changes essentially managing critical knowledge elements.

  17. Mars Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Space Exploration Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogan, Thor

    2007-08-01

    The rise of Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and its eventual demise represents one of the landmark episodes in the history of the American space program ranking with the creation of NASA, the decision to go to the Moon, the post-Apollo planning process, and the space station decision. The story of this failed initiative is one shaped by key protagonists and critical battles. It is a tale of organizational, cultural, and personal confrontation. Organizational skirmishes involved the Space Council versus NASA, the White House versus congressional appropriators, and the Johnson Space Center versus the rest of the space agency all seeking control of the national space policy process. Cultural struggles pitted the increasingly conservative engineering ethos of NASA against the faster, better, cheaper philosophy of a Space Council looking for innovative solutions to technical problems. Personality clashes matched Vice President Dan Quayle and Space Council Executive Secretary Mark Albrecht against NASA Administrator Dick Truly and Johnson Space Center Director Aaron Cohen. In the final analysis, the demise of SEI was a classic example of a defective decision-making process one that lacked adequate high-level policy guidance, failed to address critical fiscal constraints, developed inadequate programmatic alternatives, and garnered no congressional support. Some space policy experts have argued that SEI was doomed to fail, due primarily to the immense budgetary pressures facing the nation during the early 1990's. This book will argue, however, that the failure of the initiative was not predetermined; instead, it was the result of a deeply flawed policy process that failed to develop (or even consider) policy options that may have been politically acceptable given the existing political environment.

  18. Purpose, Principles, and Challenges of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Michael G.

    2016-01-01

    NASA formed the NASA Engineering and Safety Center in 2003 following the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. It is an Agency level, program-independent engineering resource supporting NASA's missions, programs, and projects. It functions to identify, resolve, and communicate engineering issues, risks, and, particularly, alternative technical opinions, to NASA senior management. The goal is to help ensure fully informed, risk-based programmatic and operational decision-making processes. To date, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has conducted or is actively working over 600 technical studies and projects, spread across all NASA Mission Directorates, and for various other U.S. Government and non-governmental agencies and organizations. Since inception, NESC human spaceflight related activities, in particular, have transitioned from Shuttle Return-to-Flight and completion of the International Space Station (ISS) to ISS operations and Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), Space Launch System (SLS), and Commercial Crew Program (CCP) vehicle design, integration, test, and certification. This transition has changed the character of NESC studies. For these development programs, the NESC must operate in a broader, system-level design and certification context as compared to the reactive, time-critical, hardware specific nature of flight operations support.

  19. NASA's Space Launch System Takes Shape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Askins, Bruce; Robinson, Kimberly F.

    2017-01-01

    Major hardware and software for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) began rolling off assembly lines in 2016, setting the stage for critical testing in 2017 and the launch of a major new capability for deep space human exploration. SLS continues to pursue a 2018 first launch of Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, LA, Boeing completed welding of structural test and flight liquid hydrogen tanks, and engine sections. Test stands for core stage structural tests at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. neared completion. The B2 test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, MS, completed major structural renovation to support core stage green run testing in 2018. Orbital ATK successfully test fired its second qualification solid rocket motor in the Utah desert and began casting the motor segments for EM-1. Aerojet Rocketdyne completed its series of test firings to adapt the heritage RS-25 engine to SLS performance requirements. Production is under way on the first five new engine controllers. NASA also signed a contract with Aerojet Rocketdyne for propulsion of the RL10 engines for the Exploration Upper Stage. United Launch Alliance delivered the structural test article for the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage to MSFC for tests and construction was under way on the flight stage. Flight software testing at MSFC, including power quality and command and data handling, was completed. Substantial progress is planned for 2017. Liquid oxygen tank production will be completed at Michoud. Structural testing at Marshall will get under way. RS-25 hotfire testing will verify the new engine controllers. Core stage horizontal integration will begin. The core stage pathfinder mockup will arrive at the B2 test stand for fit checks and tests. EUS will complete preliminary design review. This paper will discuss the technical and programmatic successes and challenges of 2016 and look ahead to plans for 2017.

  20. 76 FR 3674 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-20

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (11-006)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Committee to the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Tuesday, February 8, 2011, 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Local Time. ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW., Glennan Conference Center, Room 1Q39, Washington, DC 20546...

  1. X-Ray Optics at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Dell, Stephen L.; Atkins, Carolyn; Broadway, David M.; Elsner, Ronald F.; Gaskin, Jessica A.; Gubarev, Mikhail V.; Kilaru, Kiranmayee; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.; Ramsey, Brian D.; Roche, Jacqueline M.; hide

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) engages in research, development, design, fabrication, coating, assembly, and testing of grazing-incidence optics (primarily) for x-ray telescope systems. Over the past two decades, MSFC has refined processes for electroformed-nickel replication of grazing-incidence optics, in order to produce high-strength, thin-walled, full-cylinder x-ray mirrors. In recent years, MSFC has used this technology to fabricate numerous x-ray mirror assemblies for several flight (balloon, rocket, and satellite) programs. Additionally, MSFC has demonstrated the suitability of this technology for ground-based laboratory applications-namely, x-ray microscopes and cold-neutron microscopes and concentrators. This mature technology enables the production, at moderately low cost, of reasonably lightweight x-ray telescopes with good (15-30 arcsecond) angular resolution. However, achieving arcsecond imaging for a lightweight x-ray telescope likely requires development of other technologies. Accordingly, MSFC is conducting a multi-faceted research program toward enabling cost-effective production of lightweight high-resolution x-ray mirror assemblies. Relevant research topics currently under investigation include differential deposition for post-fabrication figure correction, in-situ monitoring and control of coating stress, and direct fabrication of thin-walled full-cylinder grazing-incidence mirrors.

  2. Advanced Curation Activities at NASA: Implications for Astrobiological Studies of Future Sample Collections

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, F. M.; Evans, C. A.; Fries, M. D.; Harrington, A. D.; Regberg, A. B.; Snead, C. J.; Zeigler, R. A.

    2017-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10F JSC is charged with curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions. The Directive goes on to define Curation as including documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for re-search, education, and public outreach. Here we briefly describe NASA's astromaterials collections and our ongoing efforts related to enhancing the utility of our current collections as well as our efforts to prepare for future sample return missions. We collectively refer to these efforts as advanced curation.

  3. 14 CFR 1206.402 - Documents available for inspection at NASA Information Centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ...) Cumulative Index to Selected Speeches and News Releases issued by NASA Headquarters; (7) Index/Digest of... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Documents available for inspection at NASA... Agency Records § 1206.402 Documents available for inspection at NASA Information Centers. (a) Each NASA...

  4. Historical Evolution of NASA Standard Materials Testing with Hypergolic Propellants and Ammonia (NASA Standard 6001 Test 15)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, Benjamin; McClure, Mark B.

    2012-01-01

    The NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) has performed testing of hazardous and reactive aerospace fluids, including hypergolic propellants, with materials since the 1960s with the Apollo program. Amongst other test activities, Test 15 is a NASA standard test for evaluating the reactivity of materials with selected aerospace fluids, in particular hydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, uns-dimethylhydrazine, Aerozine 50, dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizers, and ammonia. This manuscript provides an overview of the history of Test 15 over a timeline ranging from prior to its development and first implementation as a NASA standard test in 1974 to its current refinement. Precursor documents to NASA standard tests, as they are currently known, are reviewed. A related supplementary test, international standardization, and enhancements to Test 15 are also discussed. Because WSTF was instrumental in the development and implementation of Test 15, WSTF experience and practices are referred to in this manuscript.

  5. 75 FR 62591 - Performance Review Board, Senior Executive Service (SES)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-12

    ...; Assistant Administrator for Human Capital Management, NASA Headquarters; Chief Engineer, NASA Headquarters... Headquarters; Director, Ames Research Center; Director, Dryden Flight Research Center; Director, Glenn Research Center ; Director, Goddard Space Flight Center; Director, Johnson Space Center; Director, Kennedy Space...

  6. Human Exploration System Test-Bed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) Support of Future NASA Deep-Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marmolejo, Jose; Ewert, Michael

    2016-01-01

    The Engineering Directorate at the NASA - Johnson Space Center is outfitting a 20-Foot diameter hypobaric chamber in Building 7 to support future deep-space Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) research as part of the Human Exploration System Test-bed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) Project. This human-rated chamber is the only NASA facility that has the unique experience, chamber geometry, infrastructure, and support systems capable of conducting this research. The chamber was used to support Gemini, Apollo, and SkyLab Missions. More recently, it was used to conduct 30-, 60-, and 90-day human ECLSS closed-loop testing in the 1990s to support the International Space Station and life support technology development. NASA studies show that both planetary surface and deep-space transit crew habitats will be 3-4 story cylindrical structures driven by human occupancy volumetric needs and launch vehicle constraints. The HESTIA facility offers a 3-story, 20-foot diameter habitat consistent with the studies' recommendations. HESTIA operations follow stringent processes by a certified test team that including human testing. Project management, analysis, design, acquisition, fabrication, assembly and certification of facility build-ups are available to support this research. HESTIA offers close proximity to key stakeholders including astronauts, Human Research Program (who direct space human research for the agency), Mission Operations, Safety & Mission Assurance, and Engineering Directorate. The HESTIA chamber can operate at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen environments including those proposed for deep-space exploration. Data acquisition, power, fluids and other facility resources are available to support a wide range of research. Recently completed HESTIA research consisted of unmanned testing of ECLSS technologies. Eventually, the HESTIA research will include humans for extended durations at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen to demonstrate

  7. Interfacing Space Communications and Navigation Network Simulation with Distributed System Integration Laboratories (DSIL)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennings, Esther H.; Nguyen, Sam P.; Wang, Shin-Ywan; Woo, Simon S.

    2008-01-01

    NASA's planned Lunar missions will involve multiple NASA centers where each participating center has a specific role and specialization. In this vision, the Constellation program (CxP)'s Distributed System Integration Laboratories (DSIL) architecture consist of multiple System Integration Labs (SILs), with simulators, emulators, testlabs and control centers interacting with each other over a broadband network to perform test and verification for mission scenarios. To support the end-to-end simulation and emulation effort of NASA' exploration initiatives, different NASA centers are interconnected to participate in distributed simulations. Currently, DSIL has interconnections among the following NASA centers: Johnson Space Center (JSC), Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Through interconnections and interactions among different NASA centers, critical resources and data can be shared, while independent simulations can be performed simultaneously at different NASA locations, to effectively utilize the simulation and emulation capabilities at each center. Furthermore, the development of DSIL can maximally leverage the existing project simulation and testing plans. In this work, we describe the specific role and development activities at JPL for Space Communications and Navigation Network (SCaN) simulator using the Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE) tool to simulate communications effects among mission assets. Using MACHETE, different space network configurations among spacecrafts and ground systems of various parameter sets can be simulated. Data that is necessary for tracking, navigation, and guidance of spacecrafts such as Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), and Lunar Relay Satellite (LRS) and orbit calculation data are disseminated to different NASA centers and updated periodically using the High Level Architecture (HLA). In

  8. Kedalion: NASA's Adaptable and Agile Hardware/Software Integration and Test Lab

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangieri, Mark L.; Vice, Jason

    2011-01-01

    NASA fs Kedalion engineering analysis lab at Johnson Space Center is on the forefront of validating and using many contemporary avionics hardware/software development and integration techniques, which represent new paradigms to heritage NASA culture. Kedalion has validated many of the Orion hardware/software engineering techniques borrowed from the adjacent commercial aircraft avionics solution space, with the intention to build upon such techniques to better align with today fs aerospace market. Using agile techniques, commercial products, early rapid prototyping, in-house expertise and tools, and customer collaboration, Kedalion has demonstrated that cost effective contemporary paradigms hold the promise to serve future NASA endeavors within a diverse range of system domains. Kedalion provides a readily adaptable solution for medium/large scale integration projects. The Kedalion lab is currently serving as an in-line resource for the project and the Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) program.

  9. Expert Water Quality Panel Review of Responses to the NASA Request for Information for the International Space Station On-Board Environmental Monitoring System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fishman, Julianna L.; Mudgett, Paul D.; Packham, Nigel J.; Schultz, John R.; Straub, John E., II

    2005-01-01

    On August 9, 2003, NASA, with the cooperative support of the Vehicle Office of the International Space Station Program, the Advanced Human Support Technology Program, and the Johnson Space Center Habitability and Environmental Factors Office released a Request for Information, or RFI, to identify next-generation environmental monitoring systems that have demonstrated ability or the potential to meet defined requirements for monitoring air and water quality onboard the International Space Station. This report summarizes the review and analysis of the proposed solutions submitted to meet the water quality monitoring requirements. Proposals were to improve upon the functionality of the existing Space Station Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) and monitor additional contaminants in water samples. The TOCA is responsible for in-flight measurement of total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon, total carbon, pH, and conductivity in the Space Station potable water supplies. The current TOCA requires hazardous reagents to accomplish the carbon analyses. NASA is using the request for information process to investigate new technologies that may improve upon existing capabilities, as well as reduce or eliminate the need for hazardous reagents. Ideally, a replacement for the TOCA would be deployed in conjunction with the delivery of the Node 3 water recovery system currently scheduled for November 2007.

  10. High-Power Hall Propulsion Development at NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamhawi, Hani; Manzella, David H.; Smith, Timothy D.; Schmidt, George R.

    2014-01-01

    The NASA Office of the Chief Technologist Game Changing Division is sponsoring the development and testing of enabling technologies to achieve efficient and reliable human space exploration. High-power solar electric propulsion has been proposed by NASA's Human Exploration Framework Team as an option to achieve these ambitious missions to near Earth objects. NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA Glenn) is leading the development of mission concepts for a solar electric propulsion Technical Demonstration Mission. The mission concepts are highlighted in this paper but are detailed in a companion paper. There are also multiple projects that are developing technologies to support a demonstration mission and are also extensible to NASA's goals of human space exploration. Specifically, the In-Space Propulsion technology development project at NASA Glenn has a number of tasks related to high-power Hall thrusters including performance evaluation of existing Hall thrusters; performing detailed internal discharge chamber, near-field, and far-field plasma measurements; performing detailed physics-based modeling with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Hall2De code; performing thermal and structural modeling; and developing high-power efficient discharge modules for power processing. This paper summarizes the various technology development tasks and progress made to date

  11. Spacecraft Fire Safety Research at NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Marit

    2016-01-01

    Appropriate design of fire detection systems requires knowledge of both the expected fire signature and the background aerosol levels. Terrestrial fire detection systems have been developed based on extensive study of terrestrial fires. Unfortunately there is no corresponding data set for spacecraft fires and consequently the fire detectors in current spacecraft were developed based upon terrestrial designs. In low gravity, buoyant flow is negligible which causes particles to concentrate at the smoke source, increasing their residence time, and increasing the transport time to smoke detectors. Microgravity fires have significantly different structure than those in 1-g which can change the formation history of the smoke particles. Finally the materials used in spacecraft are different from typical terrestrial environments where smoke properties have been evaluated. It is critically important to detect a fire in its early phase before a flame is established, given the fixed volume of air on any spacecraft. Consequently, the primary target for spacecraft fire detection is pyrolysis products rather than soot. Experimental investigations have been performed at three different NASA facilities which characterize smoke aerosols from overheating common spacecraft materials. The earliest effort consists of aerosol measurements in low gravity, called the Smoke Aerosol Measurement Experiment (SAME), and subsequent ground-based testing of SAME smoke in 55-gallon drums with an aerosol reference instrument. Another set of experiments were performed at NASAs Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (WSTF), with additional fuels and an alternate smoke production method. Measurements of these smoke products include mass and number concentration, and a thermal precipitator was designed for this investigation to capture particles for microscopic analysis. The final experiments presented are from NASAs Gases and Aerosols from Smoldering Polymers (GASP) Laboratory, with selected

  12. Status of NASA's Stirling Space Power Converter Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dudenhoefer, J.E.; Winter, J.M.

    1994-01-01

    An overview is presented of the NASA Lewis Research Center Free-Piston Stirling Space Power Converter Technology Program. This work is being conducted under NASA's Civil Space Technology Initiative. The goal of the CSTI High Capacity Power Element is to develop the technology base needed to meet the long duration, high capacity power requirements for future NASA space initiatives. Efforts are focused upon increasing system power output and system thermal and electric energy conversion efficiency at least fivefold over current SP-100 technology, and on achieving systems that are compatible with space nuclear reactors. This paper will discuss Stirling experience in Space Power Converters. Fabrication is nearly completed for the 1050 K Component Test Power Converter (CTPC); results of motoring tests of the cold end (525 K), are presented. The success of these and future designs is dependent upon supporting research and technology efforts including heat pipes, bearings, superalloy joining technologies, high efficiency alternators, life and reliability testing and predictive methodologies. This paper provides an update of progress in some of these technologies leading off with a discussion of free-piston Stirling experience in space

  13. Torelli groups, extended Johnson homomorphisms, and new cycles on the moduli space of curves

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morita, Shigeyuki; Penner, Robert

    modulo N are derived for all N. Furthermore, the first Johnson homomorphism, which is defined from the classical Torelli group to the third exterior power of the homology of the surface, is shown to lift to an explicit canonical 1-cocycle of the Teichmueller space. The main tool for these results...... cocycle lifts of the higher Johnson homomorphisms....

  14. Inspiring the Next Generation in Space Life Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, Judith

    2010-01-01

    Competitive summer internships in space life sciences at NASA are awarded to college students every summer. Each student is aligned with a NASA mentor and project that match his or her skills and interests, working on individual projects in ongoing research activities. The interns consist of undergraduate, graduate, and medical students in various majors and disciplines from across the United States. To augment their internship experience, students participate in the Space Life Sciences Summer Institute (SLSSI). The purpose of the Institute is to offer a unique learning environment that focuses on the current biomedical issues associated with human spaceflight; providing an introduction of the paradigms, problems, and technologies of modern spaceflight cast within the framework of life sciences. The Institute faculty includes NASA scientists, physicians, flight controllers, engineers, managers, and astronauts; and fosters a multi-disciplinary science approach to learning with a particular emphasis on stimulating experimental creativity and innovation within an operational environment. This program brings together scientists and students to discuss cutting-edge solutions to problems in space physiology, environmental health, and medicine; and provides a familiarization of the various aspects of space physiology and environments. In addition to the lecture series, behind-the-scenes tours are offered that include the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, Mission Control Center, space vehicle training mockups, and a hands-on demonstration of the Space Shuttle Advanced Crew Escape Suit. While the SLSSI is managed and operated at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, student interns from the other NASA centers (Glenn and Ames Research Centers, in Ohio and California) also participate through webcast distance learning capabilities.

  15. Climate Change Adaptation Activities at the NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, FL., USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Carlton; Phillips, Lynne

    2016-01-01

    In 2010, the Office of Strategic Infrastructure and Earth Sciences established the Climate Adaptation Science Investigators (CASI) program to integrate climate change forecasts and knowledge into sustainable management of infrastructure and operations needed for the NASA mission. NASA operates 10 field centers valued at $32 billion dollars, occupies 191,000 acres and employs 58,000 people. CASI climate change and sea-level rise forecasts focus on the 2050 and 2080 time periods. At the 140,000 acre Kennedy Space Center (KSC) data are used to simulate impacts on infrastructure, operations, and unique natural resources. KSC launch and processing facilities represent a valued national asset located in an area with high biodiversity including 33 species of special management concern. Numerical and advanced Bayesian and Monte Carlo statistical modeling is being conducted using LiDAR digital elevation models coupled with relevant GIS layers to assess potential future conditions. Results are provided to the Environmental Management Branch, Master Planning, Construction of Facilities, Engineering Construction Innovation Committee and our regional partners to support Spaceport development, management, and adaptation planning and design. Potential impacts to natural resources include conversion of 50% of the Center to open water, elevation of the surficial aquifer, alterations of rainfall and evapotranspiration patterns, conversion of salt marsh to mangrove forest, reductions in distribution and extent of upland habitats, overwash of the barrier island dune system, increases in heat stress days, and releases of chemicals from legacy contamination sites. CASI has proven successful in bringing climate change planning to KSC including recognition of the need to increase resiliency and development of a green managed shoreline retreat approach to maintain coastal ecosystem services while maximizing life expectancy of Center launch and payload processing resources.

  16. Climate Change Adaptation Activities at the NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Fl., USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, C. R.; Phillips, L. V.; Foster, T.; Stolen, E.; Duncan, B.; Hunt, D.; Schaub, R.

    2016-12-01

    In 2010, the Office of Strategic Infrastructure and Earth Sciences established the Climate Adaptation Science Investigators (CASI) program to integrate climate change forecasts and knowledge into sustainable management of infrastructure and operations needed for the NASA mission. NASA operates 10 field centers valued at $32 billion dollars, occupies 191,000 acres and employs 58,000 people. CASI climate change and sea-level rise forecasts focus on the 2050 and 2080 time periods. At the 140,000 acre Kennedy Space Center (KSC) data are used to simulate impacts on infrastructure, operations, and unique natural resources. KSC launch and processing facilities represent a valued national asset located in an area with high biodiversity including 33 species of special management concern. Numerical and advanced Bayesian and Monte Carlo statistical modeling is being conducted using LiDAR digital elevation models coupled with relevant GIS layers to assess potential future conditions. Results are provided to the Environmental Management Branch, Master Planning, Construction of Facilities, Engineering Construction Innovation Committee and our regional partners to support Spaceport development, management, and adaptation planning and design. Potential impacts to natural resources include conversion of 50% of the Center to open water, elevation of the surficial aquifer, alterations of rainfall and evapotranspiration patterns, conversion of salt marsh to mangrove forest, reductions in distribution and extent of upland habitats, overwash of the barrier island dune system, increases in heat stress days, and releases of chemicals from legacy contamination sites. CASI has proven successful in bringing climate change planning to KSC including recognition of the need to increase resiliency and development of a green managed shoreline retreat approach to maintain coastal ecosystem services while maximizing life expectancy of Center launch and payload processing resources.

  17. Water Reclamation Technology Development at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callahan, Michael R.; Pickering, Karen

    2014-01-01

    Who We Are: A staff of approximately 14 BS, MS, and PhD-Level Engineers and Scientists with experience in Aerospace, Civil, Environmental, and Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Physical Science and Water Pollution Microbiology. Our Primary Objective: To develop the next generation water recovery system technologies that will support NASA's long duration missions beyond low-earth orbit.

  18. Results of the Test Program for Replacement of AK-225G Solvent for Cleaning NASA Propulsion Oxygen Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowrey, Nikki M.; Mitchell, Mark A.

    2016-01-01

    Since the 1990's, when the Class I Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) chlorofluorocarbon-113 (CFC-113) was banned, NASA's propulsion test facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Stennis Space Center (SSC) have relied upon the solvent AsahiKlin AK-225 (hydrochlorofluorocarbon-225ca/cb or HCFC-225ca/cb) and, more recently AK-225G (the single isomer form, HCFC-225cb) to safely clean and verify the cleanliness of large scale propulsion oxygen systems. Effective January 1, 2015, the production, import, export, and new use of Class II Ozone Depleting Substances, including AK-225G, was prohibited in the United States by the Clean Air Act. In 2012 through 2014, NASA test labs at MSFC, SSC, and Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) collaborated to seek out, test, and qualify a solvent replacement for AK-225G that is both an effective cleaner and safe for use with oxygen systems. This paper summarizes the tests performed, results, and lessons learned.

  19. Z-2 Prototype Space Suit Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Amy; Rhodes, Richard; Graziosi, David; Jones, Bobby; Lee, Ryan; Haque, Bazle Z.; Gillespie, John W., Jr.

    2014-01-01

    NASA's Z-2 prototype space suit is the highest fidelity pressure garment from both hardware and systems design perspectives since the Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was developed in the late 1970's. Upon completion the Z-2 will be tested in the 11 foot human-rated vacuum chamber and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at the NASA Johnson Space Center to assess the design and to determine applicability of the configuration to micro-, low- (asteroid), and planetary- (surface) gravity missions. This paper discusses the 'firsts' that the Z-2 represents. For example, the Z-2 sizes to the smallest suit scye bearing plane distance for at least the last 25 years and is being designed with the most intensive use of human models with the suit model.

  20. Intentional Collaboration & Innovation Spaces at NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, David W.

    2014-01-01

    Collaboration and Innovation (C&I) are extremely popular terms in corporate jargon, and institutions with reputations for creativity often have clever and fun spaces set aside for hatching ideas and developing products or services. In and of themselves, a room full of "collaboration furniture" and electronics can't make C&I happen, any more than oil makes a gas or diesel engine run. As with the engine, though, quality lubrication is a huge factor in the smooth operation, power, and longevity of C&I activity. This paper describes spaces deliberately set up at numerous NASA field centers to support collaborative and creative thinking and processes. (Sometimes support is not so much a matter of doing things to spark discussion as it is removing constraints imposed by traditional settings and making information sharing as easy as possible.) Some spaces are rooms or suites dedicated to C&I, with significant electronic support and/or intentional lack thereof (to emphasize the human element). Others are small, comfortable "roosting places" that invite conversations of opportunity. Descriptions include the sponsoring organization, underlying goals and philosophies, lessons learned, and opportunities to excel. There is discussion about how such areas might interconnect within centers, across NASA, and with external entities using current technology and what tools and approaches may be in our future.

  1. Telemedicine in Space Flight - Summary of a NASA Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barsten, K. N.; Watkins, S. D.; Otto, C.; Baumann, D. K.

    2011-01-01

    The Exploration Medical Capability Element of the Human Research Program at NASA Johnson Space Center hosted the Telemedicine Workshop in January 2011 to discuss the medical operational concept for a crewed mission to a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) and to identify areas for future work and collaboration. With the increased likelihood of a medical incident on a long duration exploration mission to a near-Earth asteroid, as well as the fact that there will likely be limited medical capabilities and resources available to diagnose and treat medical conditions, it is anticipated that a more structured use of telemedicine will become highly desirable. The workshop was convened to solicit expert opinion on current telemedicine practices and on medical care in remote environments. Workshop Objectives: The workshop brought together leaders in telemedicine and remote medicine from The University of Texas Medical Branch, Henry Ford Hospital, Ontario Telemedicine Network, U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, University of Miami, American Telemedicine Association, Doctors Without Borders, and the Pan American Health Organization. The primary objectives of the workshop were to document the medical operations concept for a crewed mission to a NEA, to determine gaps between current capabilities and the capabilities outlined in the operations concept, to identify research required to close these gaps, and to discuss potential collaborations with external-to-NASA organizations with similar challenges. Summary of Discussions and Conclusions: The discussions held during the workshop and the conclusions reached by the workshop participants were grouped into seven categories: Crew Medical Officers, Patient Area in Spacecraft, Training, Electronic Medical Records, Intelligent Care Systems, Consultation Protocols, Prophylactic Surgical Procedures, and Data Prioritization. The key points discussed under each category will be presented.

  2. High power electromagnetic propulsion research at the NASA Glenn Research Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LaPointe, Michael R.; Sankovic, John M.

    2000-01-01

    Interest in megawatt-class electromagnetic propulsion has been rekindled to support newly proposed high power orbit transfer and deep space mission applications. Electromagnetic thrusters can effectively process megawatts of power to provide a range of specific impulse values to meet diverse in-space propulsion requirements. Potential applications include orbit raising for the proposed multi-megawatt Space Solar Power Satellite and other large commercial and military space platforms, lunar and interplanetary cargo missions in support of the NASA Human Exploration and Development of Space strategic enterprise, robotic deep space exploration missions, and near-term interstellar precursor missions. As NASA's lead center for electric propulsion, the Glenn Research Center is developing a number of high power electromagnetic propulsion technologies to support these future mission applications. Program activities include research on MW-class magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters, high power pulsed inductive thrusters, and innovative electrodeless plasma thruster concepts. Program goals are highlighted, the status of each research area is discussed, and plans are outlined for the continued development of efficient, robust high power electromagnetic thrusters

  3. Status of the Space-Rated Lithium-Ion Battery Advanced Development Project in Support of the Exploration Vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Thomas

    2007-01-01

    The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), along with the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Johnson Space Center (JSC), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and industry partners, is leading a space-rated lithium-ion advanced development battery effort to support the vision for Exploration. This effort addresses the lithium-ion battery portion of the Energy Storage Project under the Exploration Technology Development Program. Key discussions focus on the lithium-ion cell component development activities, a common lithium-ion battery module, test and demonstration of charge/discharge cycle life performance and safety characterization. A review of the space-rated lithium-ion battery project will be presented highlighting the technical accomplishments during the past year.

  4. Results From the John Glenn Biomedical Engineering Consortium. A Success Story for NASA and Northeast Ohio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nall, Marsha M.; Barna, Gerald J.

    2009-01-01

    The John Glenn Biomedical Engineering Consortium was established by NASA in 2002 to formulate and implement an integrated, interdisciplinary research program to address risks faced by astronauts during long-duration space missions. The consortium is comprised of a preeminent team of Northeast Ohio institutions that include Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, The National Center for Space Exploration Research, and the NASA Glenn Research Center. The John Glenn Biomedical Engineering Consortium research is focused on fluid physics and sensor technology that addresses the critical risks to crew health, safety, and performance. Effectively utilizing the unique skills, capabilities and facilities of the consortium members is also of prime importance. Research efforts were initiated with a general call for proposals to the consortium members. The top proposals were selected for funding through a rigorous, peer review process. The review included participation from NASA's Johnson Space Center, which has programmatic responsibility for NASA's Human Research Program. The projects range in scope from delivery of prototype hardware to applied research that enables future development of advanced technology devices. All of the projects selected for funding have been completed and the results are summarized. Because of the success of the consortium, the member institutions have extended the original agreement to continue this highly effective research collaboration through 2011.

  5. The NASA Radiation Interuniversity Science and Engineering(RaISE) Project: A Model for Inter-collaboration and Distance Learning in Radiation Physics and Nuclear Engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denkins, Pamela S.; Saganti, P.; Obot, V.; Singleterry, R.

    2006-01-01

    This viewgraph document reviews the Radiation Interuniversity Science and Engineering (RaISE) Project, which is a project that has as its goals strengthening and furthering the curriculum in radiation sciences at two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University. Those were chosen in part because of the proximity to NASA Johnson Space Center, a lead center for the Space Radiation Health Program. The presentation reviews the courses that have been developed, both in-class, and on-line.

  6. The Process of Science Communications at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horack, John M.; Treise, Deborah

    1998-01-01

    The communication of new scientific knowledge and understanding is an integral component of science research, essential for its continued survival. Like any learning- based activity, science cannot continue without communication between and among peers so that skeptical inquiry and learning can take place. This communication provides necessary organic support to maintain the development of new knowledge and technology. However, communication beyond the peer-community is becoming equally critical for science to survive as an enterprise into the 21st century. Therefore, scientists not only have a 'noble responsibility' to advance and communicate scientific knowledge and understanding to audiences within and beyond the peer-community, but their fulfillment of this responsibility is necessary to maintain the survival of the science enterprise. Despite the critical importance of communication to the viability of science, the skills required to perform effective science communications historically have not been taught as a part of the training of scientist, and the culture of science is often averse to significant communication beyond the peer community. Thus scientists can find themselves ill equipped and uncomfortable with the requirements of their job in the new millennium. At NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, we have developed and implemented an integrated science communications process, providing an institutional capability to help scientist accurately convey the content and meaning of new scientific knowledge to a wide variety of audiences, adding intrinsic value to the research itself through communication, while still maintaining the integrity of the peer-review process. The process utilizes initial communication through the world-wide web at the site http://science.nasa.gov to strategically leverage other communications vehicles and to reach a wide-variety of audiences. Here we present and discuss the basic design of the science communications process, now in

  7. Building a Quality Controlled Database of Meteorological Data from NASA Kennedy Space Center and the United States Air Force's Eastern Range

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brenton, James C.; Barbre. Robert E., Jr.; Decker, Ryan K.; Orcutt, John M.

    2018-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch (EV44) has provided atmospheric databases and analysis in support of space vehicle design and day-of-launch operations for NASA and commercial launch vehicle programs launching from the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), co-located on the United States Air Force's Eastern Range (ER) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The ER complex is one of the most heavily instrumented sites in the United States with over 31 towers measuring various atmospheric parameters on a continuous basis. An inherent challenge with large sets of data consists of ensuring erroneous data is removed from databases, and thus excluded from launch vehicle design analyses. EV44 has put forth great effort in developing quality control (QC) procedures for individual meteorological instruments, however no standard QC procedures for all databases currently exists resulting in QC databases that have inconsistencies in variables, methodologies, and periods of record. The goal of this activity is to use the previous efforts by EV44 to develop a standardized set of QC procedures from which to build meteorological databases from KSC and the ER, while maintaining open communication with end users from the launch community to develop ways to improve, adapt and grow the QC database. Details of the QC procedures will be described. As the rate of launches increases with additional launch vehicle programs, it is becoming more important that weather databases are continually updated and checked for data quality before use in launch vehicle design and certification analyses.

  8. Learning Without Boundaries: A NASA - National Guard Bureau Distance Learning Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Susan H.; Chilelli, Christopher J.; Picard, Stephan

    2003-01-01

    With a variety of high-quality live interactive educational programs originating at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and other space and research centers, the US space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has a proud track record of connecting with students throughout the world and stimulating their creativity and collaborative skills by teaching them underlying scientific and technological underpinnings of space exploration. However, NASA desires to expand its outreach capability for this type of interactive instruction. In early 2002, NASA and the National Guard Bureau -- using the Guard's nationwide system of state-ofthe-art classrooms and high bandwidth network -- began a collaboration to extend the reach of NASA content and educational programs to more of America's young people. Already, hundreds of elementary, middle, and high school students have visited Guard e-Learning facilities and participated in interactive NASA learning events. Topics have included experimental flight, satellite imagery-interpretation, and Mars exploration. Through this partnership, NASA and the National Guard are enabling local school systems throughout the United States (and, increasingly, the world) to use the excitement of space flight to encourage their students to become passionate about the possibility of one day serving as scientists, mathematicians, technologists, and engineers. At the 54th International Astronautical Conference MAJ Stephan Picard, the guiding visionary behind the Guard's partnership with NASA, and Chris Chilelli, an educator and senior instructional designer at NASA, will share with attendees background on NASA's educational products and the National Guard's distributed learning network; will discuss the unique opportunity this partnership already has provided students and teachers throughout the United States; will offer insights into the formation by government entities of e-Learning partnerships with one another; and will

  9. The Development of a Virtual Company to Support the Reengineering of the NASA/Goddard Hubble Space Telescope Control Center System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehtonen, Ken

    1999-01-01

    This is a report to the Third Annual International Virtual Company Conference, on The Development of a Virtual Company to Support the Reengineering of the NASA/Goddard Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Control Center System. It begins with a HST Science "Commercial": Brief Tour of Our Universe showing various pictures taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. The presentation then reviews the project background and goals. Evolution of the Control Center System ("CCS Inc.") is then reviewed. Topics of Interest to "virtual companies" are reviewed: (1) "How To Choose A Team" (2) "Organizational Model" (3) "The Human Component" (4) "'Virtual Trust' Among Teaming Companies" (5) "Unique Challenges to Working Horizontally" (6) "The Cultural Impact" (7) "Lessons Learned".

  10. Hybrid Heat Pipes for Lunar and Martian Surface and High Heat Flux Space Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ababneh, Mohammed T.; Tarau, Calin; Anderson, William G.; Farmer, Jeffery T.; Alvarez-Hernandez, Angel R.

    2016-01-01

    Novel hybrid wick heat pipes are developed to operate against gravity on planetary surfaces, operate in space carrying power over long distances and act as thermosyphons on the planetary surface for Lunar and Martian landers and rovers. These hybrid heat pipes will be capable of operating at the higher heat flux requirements expected in NASA's future spacecraft and on the next generation of polar rovers and equatorial landers. In addition, the sintered evaporator wicks mitigate the start-up problems in vertical gravity aided heat pipes because of large number of nucleation sites in wicks which will allow easy boiling initiation. ACT, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and NASA Johnson Space Center, are working together on the Advanced Passive Thermal experiment (APTx) to test and validate the operation of a hybrid wick VCHP with warm reservoir and HiK"TM" plates in microgravity environment on the ISS.

  11. Industrial Engineering Lifts Off at Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barth, Tim

    1998-01-01

    When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began the Space Shuttle Program, it did not have an established industrial engineering (IE) capability for several probable reasons. For example, it was easy for some managers to dismiss IE principles as being inapplicable at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). When NASA was formed by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, most industrial engineers worked in more traditional factory environments. The primary emphasis early in the shuttle program, and during previous human space flight programs such as Mercury and Apollo, was on technical accomplishments. Industrial engineering is sometimes difficult to explain in NASA's highly technical culture. IE is different in many ways from other engineering disciplines because it is devoted to process management and improvement, rather than product design. Images of clipboards and stopwatches still come to the minds of many people when the term industrial engineering is mentioned. The discipline of IE has only recently begun to gain acceptance and understanding in NASA. From an IE perspective today, the facilities used for flight hardware processing at KSC are NASA's premier factories. The products of these factories are among the most spectacular in the world: safe and successful launches of shuttles and expendable vehicles that carry tremendous payloads into space.

  12. Waste management in space: a NASA symposium. Special issue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wydeven, T. (Principal Investigator)

    1991-01-01

    This special issue contains papers from the NASA Symposium on Waste Processing for Advanced Life Support, which was held at NASA Ames Research Center on September 11-13, 1990. Specialists in waste management from academia, government, and industry convened to exchange ideas and advise NASA in developing effective methods for waste management in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). Innovative and well-established methods were presented to assist in developing and managing wastes in closed systems for future long-duration space missions, especially missions to Mars.

  13. NASA's National Center for Advanced Manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vickers, John

    2003-01-01

    NASA has designated the Principal Center Assignment to the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for implementation of the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM). NCAM is NASA s leading resource for the aerospace manufacturing research, development, and innovation needs that are critical to the goals of the Agency. Through this initiative NCAM s people work together with government, industry, and academia to ensure the technology base and national infrastructure are available to develop innovative manufacturing technologies with broad application to NASA Enterprise programs, and U.S. industry. Educational enhancements are ever-present within the NCAM focus to promote research, to inspire participation and to support education and training in manufacturing. Many important accomplishments took place during 2002. Through NCAM, NASA was among five federal agencies involved in manufacturing research and development (R&D) to launch a major effort to exchange information and cooperate directly to enhance the payoffs from federal investments. The Government Agencies Technology Exchange in Manufacturing (GATE-M) is the only active effort to specifically and comprehensively address manufacturing R&D across the federal government. Participating agencies include the departments of Commerce (represented by the National Institute of Standards and Technology), Defense, and Energy, as well as the National Science Foundation and NASA. MSFC s ongoing partnership with the State of Louisiana, the University of New Orleans, and Lockheed Martin Corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) progressed significantly. Major capital investments were initiated for world-class equipment additions including a universal friction stir welding system, composite fiber placement machine, five-axis machining center, and ten-axis laser ultrasonic nondestructive test system. The NCAM consortium of five universities led by University of New Orleans with Mississippi State University

  14. ISO 15859 Propellant and Fluid Specifications: A Review and Comparison with Military and NASA Specifications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, Ben; McClure, Mark B.; Baker, David L.

    2006-01-01

    This work presents an overview of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15859 International Standard for Space Systems Fluid Characteristics, Sampling and Test Methods Parts 1 through 13 issued in June 2004. These standards establish requirements for fluid characteristics, sampling, and test methods for 13 fluids of concern to the propellant community and propellant characterization laboratories: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, helium, nitrogen tetroxide, monomethylhydrazine, hydrazine, kerosene, argon, water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and breathing air. A comparison of the fluid characteristics, sampling, and test methods required by the ISO standards to the current military and NASA specifications, which are in use at NASA facilities and elsewhere, is presented. Many ISO standards composition limits and other content agree with those found in the applicable parts of NASA SE-S-0073, NASA SSP 30573, military performance standards and details, and Compressed Gas Association (CGA) commodity specifications. The status of a current project managed at NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) to rewrite these documents is discussed.

  15. Images of Earth and Space: The Role of Visualization in NASA Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996-01-01

    Fly through the ocean at breakneck speed. Tour the moon. Even swim safely in the boiling sun. You can do these things and more in a 17 minute virtual journey through Earth and space. The trek is by way of colorful scientific visualizations developed by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Scientific Visualization Studio and the NASA HPCC Earth and Space Science Project investigators. Various styles of electronic music and lay-level narration provide the accompaniment.

  16. ADVANCED COMPOSITES TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY AT NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER

    Science.gov (United States)

    This report summarizes work conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Langley Research Center (NASA-LaRC) in Hampton, VA, under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waste Reduction Evaluations at Federal Sites (WREAFS) Program. Support for...

  17. Proceedings from the 2001 NASA Occupational Health Conference: Risk Assessment and Management in 2001

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberson, Sheri (Editor); Kelly, Bruce (Editor); Gettleman, Alan G. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    This Conference convened approximately 86 registered participants of invited guest speakers, NASA presenters, and a broad spectrum of the Occupational Health disciplines representing NASA Headquarters and all NASA Field Centers. Two days' Professional Development Courses on Exposure Assessment Strategies and Statistics and on Advanced Cardiac Life Support training and recertification preceded the Conference. With the theme, 'Risk Assessment and Management in 2001,' conferees were first provided updates from the Program Principal Center Office and the Headquarters Office. Plenary sessions elaborated on several topics: biological terrorism, OSHA recordability, Workers' Compensation issues, Federal ergonomic standards, bridging aerospace medicine and occupational health-especially in management of risk in spaceflight, and EAP operations with mission failures. A keynote address dealt with resiliency skills for 21st century workers and two NASA astronaut speakers highlighted a tour of the Johnson Space Center. During discipline specific breakout sessions, current issues in occupational health management and policy, credentialing and privileging, health risk assessment, measurement and standardization, audits, database development, prevention and rehabilitation, international travel and infection control, employee assistance, nursing process, and environmental health were presented.

  18. NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) Presentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webster, William P.

    2012-01-01

    The NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) offers integrated supercomputing, visualization, and data interaction technologies to enhance NASA's weather and climate prediction capabilities. It serves hundreds of users at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, as well as other NASA centers, laboratories, and universities across the US. Over the past year, NCCS has continued expanding its data-centric computing environment to meet the increasingly data-intensive challenges of climate science. We doubled our Discover supercomputer's peak performance to more than 800 teraflops by adding 7,680 Intel Xeon Sandy Bridge processor-cores and most recently 240 Intel Xeon Phi Many Integrated Core (MIG) co-processors. A supercomputing-class analysis system named Dali gives users rapid access to their data on Discover and high-performance software including the Ultra-scale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UV-CDAT), with interfaces from user desktops and a 17- by 6-foot visualization wall. NCCS also is exploring highly efficient climate data services and management with a new MapReduce/Hadoop cluster while augmenting its data distribution to the science community. Using NCCS resources, NASA completed its modeling contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCG) Fifth Assessment Report this summer as part of the ongoing Coupled Modellntercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Ensembles of simulations run on Discover reached back to the year 1000 to test model accuracy and projected climate change through the year 2300 based on four different scenarios of greenhouse gases, aerosols, and land use. The data resulting from several thousand IPCC/CMIP5 simulations, as well as a variety of other simulation, reanalysis, and observationdatasets, are available to scientists and decision makers through an enhanced NCCS Earth System Grid Federation Gateway. Worldwide downloads have totaled over 110 terabytes of data.

  19. AVTA Federal Fleet PEV Readiness Data Logging and Characterization Study for NASA Stennis Space Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schey, Stephen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Francfort, Jim [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-05-01

    Federal agencies are mandated to purchase alternative fuel vehicles, increase consumption of alternative fuels, and reduce petroleum consumption. Available plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) provide an attractive option in the selection of alternative fuel vehicles. PEVs, which consist of both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), have significant advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in terms of energy efficiency, reduced petroleum consumption, and reduced production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and they provide performance benefits with quieter, smoother operation. This study intended to evaluate the extent to which NASA Stennis Space Center (Stennis) could convert part or all of their fleet of vehicles from petroleum-fueled vehicles to PEVs.

  20. Space Structure Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    The duration of my Summer 2015 Internship Tour at NASA's Johnson Space Center was spent working in the Structural Engineering Division's Structures Branch. One of the two main roles of the Structures Branch, ES2, is to ensure the structural integrity of spacecraft vehicles and the structural subsystems needed to support those vehicles. The other main objective of this branch is to develop the lightweight structures that are necessary to take humans beyond Low-Earth Orbit. Within ES2, my four projects involved inflatable space structure air bladder material testing; thermal and impact material testing for spacecraft windows; structural analysis on a joint used in the Boeing CST-100 airbag system; and an additive manufacturing design project.

  1. Systems engineering and integration of control centers in support of multiple programs. [ground control for STS payloads and unmanned vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, David N.

    1989-01-01

    The NASA Johnson Space Center's new Multiprogram Control Center (MPCC) addresses the control requirements of complex STS payloads as well as unmanned vehicles. An account is given of the relationship of the MPCC to the STS Mission Control Center, with a view to significant difficulties that may be encountered and solutions thus far devised for generic problems. Examples of MPCC workstation applications encompass telemetry decommutation, engineering unit conversion, data-base management, trajectory processing, and flight design.

  2. High Temporal Resolution Tropospheric Wind Profile Observations at NASA Kennedy Space Center During Hurricane Irma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Decker, Ryan K.; Barbre, Robert E., Jr.; Huddleston, Lisa; Brauer, Thomas; Wilfong, Timothy

    2018-01-01

    The NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) operates a 48-MHz Tropospheric/Stratospheric Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (TDRWP) on a continual basis generating wind profiles between 2-19 km in the support of space launch vehicle operations. A benefit of the continual operability of the system is the ability to provide unique observations of severe weather events such as hurricanes. Over the past two Atlantic Hurricane seasons the TDRWP has made high temporal resolution wind profile observations of Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Hurricane Irma was responsible for power outages to approximately 2/3 of Florida's population during its movement over the state(Stein,2017). An overview of the TDRWP system configuration, brief summary of Hurricanes Irma and Matthew storm track in proximity to KSC, characteristics of the tropospheric wind observations from the TDRWP during both events, and discussion of the dissemination of TDRWP data during the event will be presented.

  3. Stennis Space Center celebrates Native American culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Famie Willis (left), 2009-2010 Choctaw Indian Princess, displays artifacts during Native American Heritage Month activities at Stennis Space Center on Nov. 24. The celebration featured various Native American cultural displays for Stennis employees to view. Shown above are (l to r): Willis, Elaine Couchman of NASA Shared Services Center, John Cecconi of NSSC and Lakeisha Robertson of the Environmental Protection Agency.

  4. Applied Virtual Reality Research and Applications at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, Joseph P.

    1995-01-01

    A Virtual Reality (VR) applications program has been under development at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) since 1989. The objectives of the MSFC VR Applications Program are to develop, assess, validate, and utilize VR in hardware development, operations development and support, mission operations training and science training. Before this technology can be utilized with confidence in these applications, it must be validated for each particular class of application. That is, the precision and reliability with which it maps onto real settings and scenarios, representative of a class, must be calculated and assessed. The approach of the MSFC VR Applications Program is to develop and validate appropriate virtual environments and associated object kinematic and behavior attributes for specific classes of applications. These application-specific environments and associated simulations will be validated, where possible, through empirical comparisons with existing, accepted tools and methodologies. These validated VR analytical tools will then be available for use in the design and development of space systems and operations and in training and mission support systems. Specific validation studies for selected classes of applications have been completed or are currently underway. These include macro-ergonomic "control-room class" design analysis, Spacelab stowage reconfiguration training, a full-body micro-gravity functional reach simulator, and a gross anatomy teaching simulator. This paper describes the MSFC VR Applications Program and the validation studies.

  5. 75 FR 67399 - Performance Review Board, Senior Executive Service (SES)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-02

    ... Headquarters Assistant Administrator for Human Capital Management, NASA Headquarters Associate Administrator... Headquarters Director, Ames Research Center Director, Dryden Flight Research Center Director, Glenn Research Center Director, Goddard Space Flight Center Director, Johnson Space Center Director, Kennedy Space...

  6. Kennedy Space Center Five Year Sustainability Plan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Ann T.

    2016-01-01

    The Federal Government is committed to following sustainable principles. At its heart, sustainability integrates environmental, societal and economic solutions for present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Building upon its pledge towards environmental stewardship, the Administration generated a vision of sustainability spanning ten goals mandated within Executive Order (EO) 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade. In November 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) responded to this EO by incorporating it into a new release of the NASA Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP). The SSPP recognizes the importance of aligning environmental practices in a manner that preserves, enhances and strengthens NASA's ability to perform its mission indefinitely. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is following suit with KSC's Sustainability Plan (SP) by promoting, maintaining and pioneering green practices in all aspects of our mission. KSC's SP recognizes that the best sustainable solutions use an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach spanning civil servant and contractor personnel from across the Center. This approach relies on the participation of all employees to develop and implement sustainability endeavors connected with the following ten goals: Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Design, build and maintain sustainable buildings, facilities and infrastructure. Leverage clean and renewable energy. Increase water conservation. Improve fleet and vehicle efficiency and management. Purchase sustainable products and services. Minimize waste and prevent pollution. Implement performance contracts for Federal buildings. Manage electronic equipment and data centers responsibly. Pursue climate change resilience. The KSC SP details the strategies and actions that address the following objectives: Reduce Center costs. center dot Increase energy and water efficiencies. Promote smart

  7. Replacement of HCFC-225 Solvent for Cleaning NASA Propulsion Oxygen Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Mark A.; Lowrey, Nikki M.

    2015-01-01

    Since the 1990's, when the Class I Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) chlorofluorocarbon-113 (CFC-113) was banned, NASA's rocket propulsion test facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Stennis Space Center (SSC) have relied upon hydrochlorofluorocarbon-225 (HCFC-225) to safely clean and verify the cleanliness of large scale propulsion oxygen systems. Effective January 1, 2015, the production, import, export, and new use of HCFC-225, a Class II ODS, was prohibited by the Clean Air Act. In 2012 through 2014, leveraging resources from both the NASA Rocket Propulsion Test Program and the Defense Logistics Agency - Aviation Hazardous Minimization and Green Products Branch, test labs at MSFC, SSC, and Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) collaborated to seek out, test, and qualify a replacement for HCFC-225 that is both an effective cleaner and safe for use with oxygen systems. Candidate solvents were selected and a test plan was developed following the guidelines of ASTM G127, Standard Guide for the Selection of Cleaning Agents for Oxygen Systems. Solvents were evaluated for materials compatibility, oxygen compatibility, cleaning effectiveness, and suitability for use in cleanliness verification and field cleaning operations. Two solvents were determined to be acceptable for cleaning oxygen systems and one was chosen for implementation at NASA's rocket propulsion test facilities. The test program and results are summarized. This project also demonstrated the benefits of cross-agency collaboration in a time of limited resources.

  8. NASA Human Health and Performance Center: Open innovation successes and collaborative projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard, Elizabeth E.; Davis, Jeffrey R.

    2014-11-01

    In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate published the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration, setting the course for development and implementation of new business models and significant advances in external collaboration over the next five years. The strategy was updated on the basis of these accomplishments and reissued as the NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy in 2012, and continues to drive new approaches to innovation for the directorate. This short paper describes the successful execution of the strategy, driving organizational change through open innovation efforts and collaborative projects, including efforts of the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC).

  9. Kennedy Space Center: Constellation Program Electrical Ground Support Equipment Research and Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoy, Keegan

    2010-01-01

    The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is NASA's spaceport, launching rockets into space and leading important human spaceflight research. This spring semester, I worked at KSC on Constellation Program electrical ground support equipment through NASA's Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP). This report includes a discussion of NASA, KSC, and my individual research project. An analysis of Penn State's preparation of me for an internship and my overall impressions of the Penn State and NASA internship experience conclude the report.

  10. NASA Space Radiation Laboratory

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory is a NASA funded facility, delivering heavy ion beams to a target area where scientists...

  11. Lewis Research Center space station electric power system test facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birchenough, Arthur G.; Martin, Donald F.

    1988-01-01

    NASA Lewis Research Center facilities were developed to support testing of the Space Station Electric Power System. The capabilities and plans for these facilities are described. The three facilities which are required in the Phase C/D testing, the Power Systems Facility, the Space Power Facility, and the EPS Simulation Lab, are described in detail. The responsibilities of NASA Lewis and outside groups in conducting tests are also discussed.

  12. Variable Coding and Modulation Experiment Using NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Testbed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downey, Joseph A.; Mortensen, Dale J.; Evans, Michael A.; Tollis, Nicholas S.

    2016-01-01

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Space Communication and Navigation Testbed on the International Space Station provides a unique opportunity to evaluate advanced communication techniques in an operational system. The experimental nature of the Testbed allows for rapid demonstrations while using flight hardware in a deployed system within NASA's networks. One example is variable coding and modulation, which is a method to increase data-throughput in a communication link. This paper describes recent flight testing with variable coding and modulation over S-band using a direct-to-earth link between the SCaN Testbed and the Glenn Research Center. The testing leverages the established Digital Video Broadcasting Second Generation (DVB-S2) standard to provide various modulation and coding options. The experiment was conducted in a challenging environment due to the multipath and shadowing caused by the International Space Station structure. Performance of the variable coding and modulation system is evaluated and compared to the capacity of the link, as well as standard NASA waveforms.

  13. Advanced Life Support Project: Crop Experiments at Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sager, John C.; Stutte, Gary W.; Wheeler, Raymond M.; Yorio, Neil

    2004-01-01

    Crop production systems provide bioregenerative technologies to complement human crew life support requirements on long duration space missions. Kennedy Space Center has lead NASA's research on crop production systems that produce high value fresh foods, provide atmospheric regeneration, and perform water processing. As the emphasis on early missions to Mars has developed, our research focused on modular, scalable systems for transit missions, which can be developed into larger autonomous, bioregenerative systems for subsequent surface missions. Components of these scalable systems will include development of efficient light generating or collecting technologies, low mass plant growth chambers, and capability to operate in the high energy background radiation and reduced atmospheric pressures of space. These systems will be integrated with air, water, and thermal subsystems in an operational system. Extensive crop testing has been done for both staple and salad crops, but limited data is available on specific cultivar selection and breadboard testing to meet nominal Mars mission profiles of a 500-600 day surface mission. The recent research emphasis at Kennedy Space Center has shifted from staple crops, such as wheat, soybean and rice, toward short cycle salad crops such as lettuce, onion, radish, tomato, pepper, and strawberry. This paper will review the results of crop experiments to support the Exploration Initiative and the ongoing development of supporting technologies, and give an overview of capabilities of the newly opened Space Life Science (SLS) Lab at Kennedy Space Center. The 9662 square m (104,000 square ft) SLS Lab was built by the State of Florida and supports all NASA research that had been performed in Hanger-L. In addition to NASA research, the SLS Lab houses the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI), responsible for co-managing the facility, and the University of Florida (UF) has established the Space Agriculture and Biotechnology Research and

  14. Kodak Mirror Assembly Tested at Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-01-01

    This photo (a frontal view) is of one of many segments of the Eastman-Kodak mirror assembly being tested for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project at the X-Ray Calibration Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). MSFC is supporting Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in developing the JWST by taking numerous measurements to predict its future performance. The tests are conducted in a vacuum chamber cooled to approximate the super cold temperatures found in space. During its 27 years of operation, the facility has performed testing in support of a wide array of projects, including the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Solar A, Chandra technology development, Chandra High Resolution Mirror Assembly and science instruments, Constellation X-Ray Mission, and Solar X-Ray Imager, currently operating on a Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite. The JWST is NASA's next generation space telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, named in honor of NASA's second administrator, James E. Webb. It is scheduled for launch in 2010 aboard an expendable launch vehicle. It will take about 3 months for the spacecraft to reach its destination, an orbit of 940,000 miles in space.

  15. Wooden Spaceships: Human-Centered Vehicle Design for Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Twyford, Evan

    2009-01-01

    Presentation will focus on creative human centered design solutions in relation to manned space vehicle design and development in the NASA culture. We will talk about design process, iterative prototyping, mockup building and user testing and evaluation. We will take an inside look at how new space vehicle concepts are developed and designed for real life exploration scenarios.

  16. NASA Centers and Universities Collaborate Through Smallsat Technology Partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cockrell, James

    2018-01-01

    The Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) Program within the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate is chartered develop and demonstrate the capabilities that enable small spacecraft to achieve science and exploration missions in "unique" and "more affordable" ways. Specifically, the SST program seeks to enable new mission architectures through the use of small spacecraft, to expand the reach of small spacecraft to new destinations, and to make possible the augmentation existing assets and future missions with supporting small spacecraft. The SST program sponsors smallsat technology development partnerships between universities and NASA Centers in order to engage the unique talents and fresh perspectives of the university community and to share NASA experience and expertise in relevant university projects to develop new technologies and capabilities for small spacecraft. These partnerships also engage NASA personnel in the rapid, agile and cost-conscious small spacecraft approaches that have evolved in the university community, as well as increase support to university efforts and foster a new generation of innovators for NASA and the nation.

  17. NASA's Next Generation Space Geodesy Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desai, S. D.; Gross, R. S.; Hilliard, L.; Lemoine, F. G.; Long, J. L.; Ma, C.; McGarry, J. F.; Merkowitz, S. M.; Murphy, D.; Noll, C. E.; hide

    2012-01-01

    NASA's Space Geodesy Project (SGP) is developing a prototype core site for a next generation Space Geodetic Network (SGN). Each of the sites in this planned network co-locate current state-of-the-art stations from all four space geodetic observing systems, GNSS, SLR, VLBI, and DORIS, with the goal of achieving modern requirements for the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). In particular, the driving ITRF requirements for this network are 1.0 mm in accuracy and 0.1 mm/yr in stability, a factor of 10-20 beyond current capabilities. Development of the prototype core site, located at NASA's Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory at the Goddard Space Flight Center, started in 2011 and will be completed by the end of 2013. In January 2012, two operational GNSS stations, GODS and GOON, were established at the prototype site within 100 m of each other. Both stations are being proposed for inclusion into the IGS network. In addition, work is underway for the inclusion of next generation SLR and VLBI stations along with a modern DORIS station. An automated survey system is being developed to measure inter-technique vectorties, and network design studies are being performed to define the appropriate number and distribution of these next generation space geodetic core sites that are required to achieve the driving ITRF requirements. We present the status of this prototype next generation space geodetic core site, results from the analysis of data from the established geodetic stations, and results from the ongoing network design studies.

  18. Bringing You the Moon: Lunar Education Efforts of the Center for Lunar Science and Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaner, A. J.; Shupla, C.; Shipp, S.; Allen, J.; Kring, D. A.; Halligan, E.; LaConte, K.

    2012-01-01

    The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE), a collaboration between the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA's Johnson Space Center, is one of seven member teams of the NASA Lunar Science Institute. In addition to research and exploration activities, the CLSE team is deeply invested in education and public outreach. Overarching goals of CLSE education are to strengthen the future science workforce, attract and retain students in STEM disciplines, and develop advocates for lunar exploration. The team's efforts have resulted in a variety of programs and products, including the creation of a variety of Lunar Traveling Exhibits and the High School Lunar Research Project, featured at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/nlsi/education/.

  19. The Center for Space Telemetering and Telecommunications Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horan, S.; DeLeon, P.; Borah, D.; Lyman, R.

    2003-01-01

    This report comprises the final technical report for the research grant 'Center for Space Telemetering and Telecommunications Systems' sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center. The grant activities are broken down into the following technology areas: (1) Space Protocol Testing; (2) Autonomous Reconfiguration of Ground Station Receivers; (3) Satellite Cluster Communications; and (4) Bandwidth Efficient Modulation. The grant activity produced a number of technical reports and papers that were communicated to NASA as they were generated. This final report contains the final summary papers or final technical report conclusions for each of the project areas. Additionally, the grant supported students who made progress towards their degrees while working on the research.

  20. National Space Transportation System telemetry distribution and processing, NASA-JFK Space Center/Cape Canaveral

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, George

    1986-01-01

    Prelaunch, launch, mission, and landing distribution of RF and hardline uplink/downlink information between Space Shuttle Orbiter/cargo elements, tracking antennas, and control centers at JSC, KSC, MSFC, GSFC, ESMC/RCC, and Sunnyvale are presented as functional block diagrams. Typical mismatch problems encountered during spacecraft-to-project control center telemetry transmissions are listed along with new items for future support enhancement.

  1. Extravehicular Activity Systems Education and Public Outreach in Support of NASA's STEM Initiatives in Fiscal Year 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Heather; Jennings, Mallory A.; Lamberth, Erika Guillory

    2012-01-01

    NASA's goals to send humans beyond low Earth orbit will involve the need for a strong engineering workforce. Research indicates that student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) areas is on the decline. According to the Department of Education, the United States President has mandated that 100,000 educators be trained in STEM over the next decade to reduce this trend. NASA has aligned its Education and Public Outreach (EPO) initiatives to include emphasis in promoting STEM. The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Systems Project Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center actively supports this NASA initiative by providing subject matter experts and hands-on, interactive presentations to educate students, educators, and the general public about the design challenges encountered as NASA develops EVA hardware for exploration missions. This paper summarizes the EVA Systems EPO efforts and metrics from fiscal year 2011.

  2. Overview of Iodine Propellant Hall Thruster Development Activities at NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamhawi, Hani; Benavides, Gabriel; Haag, Thomas; Hickman, Tyler; Smith, Timothy; Williams, George; Myers, James; Polzin, Kurt; Dankanich, John; Byrne, Larry; hide

    2016-01-01

    NASA is continuing to invest in advancing Hall thruster technologies for implementation in commercial and government missions. There have been several recent iodine Hall propulsion system development activities performed by the team of the NASA Glenn Research Center, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and Busek Co. Inc. In particular, the work focused on qualification of the Busek BHT-200-I, 200 W and the continued development of the BHT-600-I Hall thruster propulsion systems. This presentation presents an overview of these development activities and also reports on the results of short duration tests that were performed on the engineering model BHT-200-I and the development model BHT-600-I Hall thrusters.

  3. Paving the Way for Small Satellite Access to Orbit: Cyclops' Deployment of SpinSat, the Largest Satellite Ever Deployed from the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hershey, Matthew P.; Newswander, Daniel R.; Smith, James P.; Lamb, Craig R.; Ballard, Perry G.

    2015-01-01

    The Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS), known as "Cyclops" to the International Space Station (ISS) community, successfully deployed the largest satellite ever (SpinSat) from the ISS on November 28, 2014. Cyclops, a collaboration between the NASA ISS Program, NASA Johnson Space Center Engineering, and Department of Defense Space Test Program (DoD STP) communities, is a dedicated 10-100 kg class ISS small satellite deployment system. This paper will showcase the successful deployment of SpinSat from the ISS. It will also outline the concept of operations, interfaces, requirements, and processes for satellites to utilize the Cyclops satellite deployment system.

  4. The NASA Bed Rest Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhodes, Bradley; Meck, Janice

    2005-01-01

    NASA s National Vision for Space Exploration includes human travel beyond low earth orbit and the ultimate safe return of the crews. Crucial to fulfilling the vision is the successful and timely development of countermeasures for the adverse physiological effects on human systems caused by long term exposure to the microgravity environment. Limited access to in-flight resources for the foreseeable future increases NASA s reliance on ground-based analogs to simulate these effects of microgravity. The primary analog for human based research will be head-down bed rest. By this approach NASA will be able to evaluate countermeasures in large sample sizes, perform preliminary evaluations of proposed in-flight protocols and assess the utility of individual or combined strategies before flight resources are requested. In response to this critical need, NASA has created the Bed Rest Project at the Johnson Space Center. The Project establishes the infrastructure and processes to provide a long term capability for standardized domestic bed rest studies and countermeasure development. The Bed Rest Project design takes a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, integrated approach that reduces the resource overhead of one investigator for one campaign. In addition to integrating studies operationally relevant for exploration, the Project addresses other new Vision objectives, namely: 1) interagency cooperation with the NIH allows for Clinical Research Center (CRC) facility sharing to the benefit of both agencies, 2) collaboration with our International Partners expands countermeasure development opportunities for foreign and domestic investigators as well as promotes consistency in approach and results, 3) to the greatest degree possible, the Project also advances research by clinicians and academia alike to encourage return to earth benefits. This paper will describe the Project s top level goals, organization and relationship to other Exploration Vision Projects, implementation

  5. Fall 2015 NASA Internship, and Space Radiation Health Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patience, Luke

    2015-01-01

    This fall, I was fortunate enough to have been able to participate in an internship at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. I was placed into the Human Health & Performance Directorate, where I was specifically tasked to work with Dr. Zarana Patel, researching the impacts of cosmic level radiation on human cells. Using different laboratory techniques, we were able to examine the cells to see if any damage had been done due to radiation exposure, and if so, how much damage was done. Cell culture samples were exposed at different doses, and fixed at different time points so that we could accumulate a large pool of quantifiable data. After examining quantifiable results relative to the impacts of space radiation on the human body at the cellular and chromosomal level, researchers can defer to different areas of the space program that have to do with astronaut safety, and research and development (extravehicular mobility unit construction, vehicle design and construction, etc.). This experience has been very eye-opening, and I was able to learn quite a bit. I learned some new laboratory techniques, and I did my best to try and learn new ways to balance such a hectic work and school schedule. I also learned some very intimate thing about working at NASA; I learned that far more people want to watch you succeed, rather than watch you fail, and I also learned that this is a place that is alive with innovators and explorers - people who have a sole purpose of exploring space for the betterment of humanity, and not for any other reason. It's truly inspiring. All of these experiences during my internship have impacted me in a really profound way, so much that my educational and career goals are completely different than when I started. I started out as a biotechnology major, and I discovered recently toward the end of the internship, that I don't want to work in a lab, nor was I as enthralled by biological life sciences as a believed myself to be. Taking that all into

  6. NASA's Contributions to Controlled Environment Agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Raymond M.

    2016-01-01

    It may come as a surprise, but NASA has been a long-standing sponsor of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) research. This is based on the potential for using plants (crops) for life support systems in space. Through photosynthesis, crops could produce food and oxygen for humans, while removing CO2. In addition, plant transpiration could help purify waste water. NASAs interest in bioregenerative life support dates back to the late 1950s. At that time, much of the testing focused on algae, but over the years moved toward higher plants as CEA techniques improved. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, extensive testing was carried out at different universities to gather horticultural data for a range of crops, including wheat, soybean, lettuce, potato, sweet potato, cowpea, rice and more. These studies examined different electric light sources, mineral nutrition, recirculating hydroponics, effects of CO2, temperature, photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), and photoperiod on the crops, and identified cultivars that would be useful for space. Findings from these studies were then used to conduct large scale (20 sq m), closed atmosphere tests at Kennedy Space Center, and later at NASA Johnson Space Center, where plant growth chambers were linked to human habitats. Results showed that with high light input and careful horticultural management, about 20-25 sq m of crops under continuous cultivation could produce the O2 for one person, and about 40-50 sq m could produce enough dietary calories. The ability to sustain these production levels and accurately assess system costs and failures needs further study. In all likelihood, the use of plants for life support will evolve, where for early missions like the International Space Station, crops will be grown in small chambers to provide supplemental fresh foods. As mission durations and distances increase, the systems could expand to assume more of the life support burden. But the constraints of space travel require that these

  7. Electrical Power Systems for NASA's Space Transportation Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lollar, Louis F.; Maus, Louis C.

    1998-01-01

    Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) lead center for space transportation systems development. These systems include earth to orbit launch vehicles, as well as vehicles for orbital transfer and deep space missions. The tasks for these systems include research, technology maturation, design, development, and integration of space transportation and propulsion systems. One of the key elements in any transportation system is the electrical power system (EPS). Every transportation system has to have some form of electrical power and the EPS for each of these systems tends to be as varied and unique as the missions they are supporting. The Preliminary Design Office (PD) at MSFC is tasked to perform feasibility analyses and preliminary design studies for new projects, particularly in the space transportation systems area. All major subsystems, including electrical power, are included in each of these studies. Three example systems being evaluated in PD at this time are the Liquid Fly Back Booster (LFBB) system, the Human Mission to Mars (HMM) study, and a tether based flight experiment called the Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS). These three systems are in various stages of definition in the study phase.

  8. NASA X-Ray Observatory Completes Tests Under Harsh Simulated Space Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-07-01

    NASA's most powerful X-ray observatory has successfully completed a month-long series of tests in the extreme heat, cold, and airless conditions it will encounter in space during its five-year mission to shed new light on some of the darkest mysteries of the universe. The Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility was put through the rigorous testing as it was alternately heated and cooled in a special vacuum chamber at TRW Space and Electronics Group in Redondo Beach, Calif., NASA's prime contractor for the observatory. "Successful completion of thermal vacuum testing marks a significant step in readying the observatory for launch aboard the Space Shuttle in January," said Fred Wojtalik, manager of the Observatory Projects Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The observatory is a complex, highly sophisticated, precision instrument," explained Wojtalik. "We are pleased with the outcome of the testing, and are very proud of the tremendous team of NASA and contractor technicians, engineers and scientists that came together and worked hard to meet this challenging task." Testing began in May after the observatory was raised into the 60-foot thermal vacuum chamber at TRW. Testing was completed on June 20. During the tests the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility was exposed to 232 degree heat and 195 degree below zero Fahrenheit cold. During four temperature cycles, all elements of the observatory - the spacecraft, telescope, and science instruments - were checked out. Computer commands directing the observatory to perform certain functions were sent from test consoles at TRW to all Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility components. A team of contractor and NASA engineers and scientists monitored and evaluated the results. Commands were also sent from, and test data monitored at, the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility Operations Control Center in Cambridge, Mass., as part of the test series. The observatory will be managed and controlled from

  9. Structural Analysis Peer Review for the Static Display of the Orbiter Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minute, Stephen A.

    2013-01-01

    Mr. Christopher Miller with the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) NASA Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) office requested the NASA Engineering and Safety Center's (NESC) technical support on March 15, 2012, to review and make recommendations on the structural analysis being performed for the Orbiter Atlantis static display at the KSC Visitor Center. The principal focus of the assessment was to review the engineering firm's structural analysis for lifting and aligning the orbiter and its static display configuration

  10. NASA's Zero-g aircraft operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, R. K.

    1988-01-01

    NASA's Zero-g aircraft, operated by the Johnson Space Center, provides the unique weightless or zero-g environment of space flight for hardware development and test and astronaut training purposes. The program, which began in 1959, uses a slightly modified Boeing KC-135A aircraft, flying a parabolic trajectory, to produce weightless periods of 20 to 25 seconds. The program has supported the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and Shuttle programs as well as a number of unmanned space operations. Typical experiments for flight in the aircraft have included materials processing experiments, welding, fluid manipulation, cryogenics, propellant tankage, satellite deployment dynamics, planetary sciences research, crew training with weightless indoctrination, space suits, tethers, etc., and medical studies including vestibular research. The facility is available to microgravity research organizations on a cost-reimbursable basis, providing a large, hands-on test area for diagnostic and support equipment for the Principal Investigators and providing an iterative-type design approach to microgravity experiment development. The facility allows concepts to be proven and baseline experimentation to be accomplished relatively inexpensively prior to committing to the large expense of a space flight.

  11. NASA Human Health and Performance Center: Open Innovation Successes and Collaborative Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey R.; Richard, Elizabeth E.

    2014-01-01

    In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate published the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration, which resulted in the development and implementation of new business models and significant advances in external collaboration over the next five years. The strategy was updated on the basis of these accomplishments and reissued as the NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy in 2012, and continues to drive new approaches to innovation for the directorate. This short paper describes the open innovation successes and collaborative projects developed over this timeframe, including the efforts of the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC), which was established to advance human health and performance innovations for spaceflight and societal benefit via collaboration in new markets.

  12. Developing a Strategic Plan for NASA JSC's Technology Investments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stecklein, Jonette M.

    2012-01-01

    Human space exploration has always been heavily influenced by goals to achieve a specific mission on a specific schedule. This approach drove rapid technology development, the rapidity of which adds risks as well as provides a major driver for costs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is now approaching the extension of human presence throughout the solar system by balancing a proactive yet less schedule-driven development of technology with opportunistic scheduling of missions as the needed technologies are realized. This approach should provide cost effective, low risk technology development that will enable efficient and effective manned spaceflight missions. As a first step, the NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has identified a suite of critical technologies needed to support future manned missions across a range of destinations, including in cislunar space, near earth asteroid visits, lunar exploration, Mars space, and Mars exploration. The challenge now is to develop a strategy and plan for technology development that efficiently enables these missions over a reasonable time period, without increasing technology development costs unnecessarily due to schedule pressure, and subsequently mitigating development and mission risks. NASA fs Johnson Space Center (JSC), as the nation's primary center for human exploration, is addressing this challenge through an innovative approach allocating Internal Research and Development funding to projects that have been prioritized using four focus criteria, with appropriate importance weighting. These four focus criteria are the Human Space Flight Technology Needs, JSC Core Technology Competencies, Commercialization Potential, and Partnership Potential. The inherent coupling in these focus criteria have been captured in a database and have provided an initial prioritization for allocation of technology development research funding. This paper will describe this process and this database

  13. Adaptive Coding and Modulation Experiment With NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Testbed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downey, Joseph; Mortensen, Dale; Evans, Michael; Briones, Janette; Tollis, Nicholas

    2016-01-01

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Space Communication and Navigation Testbed is an advanced integrated communication payload on the International Space Station. This paper presents results from an adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) experiment over S-band using a direct-to-earth link between the SCaN Testbed and the Glenn Research Center. The testing leverages the established Digital Video Broadcasting Second Generation (DVB-S2) standard to provide various modulation and coding options, and uses the Space Data Link Protocol (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) standard) for the uplink and downlink data framing. The experiment was conducted in a challenging environment due to the multipath and shadowing caused by the International Space Station structure. Several approaches for improving the ACM system are presented, including predictive and learning techniques to accommodate signal fades. Performance of the system is evaluated as a function of end-to-end system latency (round-trip delay), and compared to the capacity of the link. Finally, improvements over standard NASA waveforms are presented.

  14. Sixth Annual NASA Ames Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollingsworth, Jeffery; Howell, Steve; Fonda, Mark; Dateo, Chris; Martinez, Christine M.

    2018-01-01

    Welcome to the Sixth Annual NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). The Space Science and Astrobiology Division consists of over 60 Civil Servants, with more than 120 Cooperative Agreement Research Scientists, Post-Doctoral Fellows, Science Support Contractors, Visiting Scientists, and many other Research Associates. Within the Division there is engagement in scientific investigations over a breadth of disciplines including Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Exobiology, Exoplanets, Planetary Systems Science, and many more. The Division's personnel support NASA spacecraft missions (current and planned), including SOFIA, K2, MSL, New Horizons, JWST, WFIRST, and others. Our top-notch science research staff is spread amongst three branches in five buildings at ARC. Naturally, it can thus be difficult to remain abreast of what fellow scientific researchers pursue actively, and then what may present and/or offer regarding inter-Branch, intra-Division future collaborative efforts. In organizing this annual jamboree, the goals are to offer a wholesome, one-venue opportunity to sense the active scientific research and spacecraft mission involvement within the Division; and to facilitate communication and collaboration amongst our research scientists. Annually, the Division honors one senior research scientist with a Pollack Lecture, and one early career research scientist with an Outstanding Early Career Space Scientist Lecture. For the Pollack Lecture, the honor is bestowed upon a senior researcher who has made significant contributions within any area of research aligned with space science and/or astrobiology. This year we are pleased to honor Linda Jahnke. With the Early Career Lecture, the honor is bestowed upon an early-career researcher who has substantially demonstrated great promise for significant contributions within space science, astrobiology, and/or, in support of spacecraft missions addressing such

  15. System security in the space flight operations center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, David A.

    1988-01-01

    The Space Flight Operations Center is a networked system of workstation-class computers that will provide ground support for NASA's next generation of deep-space missions. The author recounts the development of the SFOC system security policy and discusses the various management and technology issues involved. Particular attention is given to risk assessment, security plan development, security implications of design requirements, automatic safeguards, and procedural safeguards.

  16. Space Environmental Effects on Materials and Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabbann, Leslie M.

    2009-01-01

    The Materials and Processes (M&P) Branch of the Structural Engineering Division at Johnson Space Center (JSC) seeks to uphold the production of dependable space hardware through materials research, which fits into NASA's purpose of advancing human exploration, use, and development of space. The Space Environmental Effects projects fully support these Agency goals. Two tasks were assigned to support M&P. Both assignments were to further the research of material behavior outside of Earth's atmosphere in order to determine which materials are most durable and safe to use in space for mitigating risks. One project, the Materials on International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) task, was to compile data from International Space Station (ISS) experiments to pinpoint beneficial space hardware. The other project was researching the effects on composite materials of exposure to high doses of radiation for a Lunar habitat project.

  17. Space shuttle crew training at CERN

    CERN Multimedia

    Paola Catapano

    From 13 to 16 October, the crew of NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-134 came to CERN for a special physics training programme. Invited here by Samuel Ting, they will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) detector to the International Space Station (ISS).   The STS134 crew in the Lodge at the Aiguille du Midi wearing CERN fleeces. From left to right: Captain Mark Kelly, US Navy; Pilot Gregory Johnson, USAF ret.; Mission Specialist Andrew Feustel; Mission Specialist Mike Fincke, USAF, Mission Specialist Gregory Chamitoff and Mission Specialist Roberto Vittori, ESA and Italian Air Force. Headed by Commander Mark Kelly, a US Navy captain, the crew included pilot Gregory Johnson, a US Air Force (USAF) colonel, and mission specialists Mike Fincke (also a USAF Colonel), Andrew Feustel, and Gregory Chamitoff of NASA, as well as Colonel Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency (ESA). Two flight directors, Gary Horlache and Derek Hassmann of NASA, and the engineer responsible for the Ext...

  18. Operations planning for Space Station Freedom - And beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Stephen S.; Martin, Thomas E.; Durham, H. J.

    1992-01-01

    The potential of automated planning and electronic execution systems for enhancing operations on board Space Station Freedom (SSF) are discussed. To exploit this potential the Operations Planning and Scheduling Subsystem is being developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Such systems may also make valuable contributions to the operation of resource-constrained, long-duration space habitats of the future. Points that should be considered during the design of future long-duration manned space missions are discussed. Early development of a detailed operations concept as an end-to-end mission description offers a basis for iterative design evaluation, refinement, and option comparison, particularly when used with an advanced operations planning system capable of modeling the operations and resource constraints of the proposed designs.

  19. The Role and Training of NASA Astronauts in the Post-Shuttle Era

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    In May 2010 the National Research Council (NRC) was asked by NASA to address several questions related to the Astronaut Corps. The NRC's Committee on Human Spaceflight Crew Operations was tasked to: 1. How should the role and size of the activities managed by the Johnson Space Center Flight Crew Operations Directorate change following space shuttle retirement and completion of the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS)? 2. What are the requirements for crew-related ground-based facilities after the Space Shuttle program ends? 3. Is the fleet of aircraft used for training the Astronaut Corps a cost-effective means of preparing astronauts to meet the requirements of NASA's human spaceflight program? Are there more cost-effective means of meeting these training requirements? Although the future of NASA's human spaceflight program has garnered considerable discussion in recent years, and there is considerable uncertainty about what that program will involve in the coming years, the committee was not tasked to address whether or not human spaceflight should continue, or what form it should take. The committee's task restricted it to studying those activities managed by the Flight Crew Operations Directorate, or those closely related to its activities, such as crew-related ground-based facilities and the training aircraft.

  20. Human-Robot Control Strategies for the NASA/DARPA Robonaut

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diftler, M. A.; Culbert, Chris J.; Ambrose, Robert O.; Huber, E.; Bluethmann, W. J.

    2003-01-01

    The Robotic Systems Technology Branch at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is currently developing robot systems to reduce the Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) and planetary exploration burden on astronauts. One such system, Robonaut, is capable of interfacing with external Space Station systems that currently have only human interfaces. Robonaut is human scale, anthropomorphic, and designed to approach the dexterity of a space-suited astronaut. Robonaut can perform numerous human rated tasks, including actuating tether hooks, manipulating flexible materials, soldering wires, grasping handrails to move along space station mockups, and mating connectors. More recently, developments in autonomous control and perception for Robonaut have enabled dexterous, real-time man-machine interaction. Robonaut is now capable of acting as a practical autonomous assistant to the human, providing and accepting tools by reacting to body language. A versatile, vision-based algorithm for matching range silhouettes is used for monitoring human activity as well as estimating tool pose.

  1. NASA Space Sounds API

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA has released a series of space sounds via sound cloud. We have abstracted away some of the hassle in accessing these sounds, so that developers can play with...

  2. 75 FR 4875 - NASA Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-29

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-014)] NASA Commercial Space Committee... and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Commercial Space Committee to the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Eastern. ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E...

  3. NASA's Contribution to Global Space Geodesy Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosworth, John M.

    1999-01-01

    The NASA Space Geodesy program continues to be a major provider of space geodetic data for the international earth science community. NASA operates high performance Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and Global Positioning System (GPS) ground receivers at well over 30 locations around the world and works in close cooperation with space geodetic observatories around the world. NASA has also always been at the forefront in the quest for technical improvement and innovation in the space geodesy technologies to make them even more productive, accurate and economical. This presentation will highlight the current status of NASA's networks; the plans for partnerships with international groups in the southern hemisphere to improve the geographic distribution of space geodesy sites and the status of the technological improvements in SLR and VLBI that will support the new scientific thrusts proposed by interdisciplinary earth scientists. In addition, the expanding role of the NASA Space geodesy data archive, the CDDIS will be described.

  4. Osiris-Rex and Hayabusa2 Sample Cleanroom Design and Construction Planning at NASA-JSC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Righter, Kevin; Pace, Lisa F.; Messenger, Keiko

    2018-01-01

    Final Paper and not the abstract is attached. The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission launched to asteroid Bennu September 8, 2016. The spacecraft will arrive at Bennu in late 2019, orbit and map the asteroid, and perform a touch and go (TAG) sampling maneuver in July 2020. After confirma-tion of successful sample stowage, the spacecraft will return to Earth, and the sample return capsule (SRC) will land in Utah in September 2023. Samples will be recovered from Utah and then transported and stored in a new sample cleanroom at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. All curation-specific ex-amination and documentation activities related to Ben-nu samples will be conducted in the dedicated OSIRIS-REx sample cleanroom to be built at NASA-JSC.

  5. Marshall Space Flight Center - Launching the Future of Science and Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shivers, Alisa; Shivers, Herbert

    2010-01-01

    Topics include: NASA Centers around the country, launching a legacy (Explorer I), Marshall's continuing role in space exploration, MSFC history, lifting from Earth, our next mission STS 133, Space Shuttle propulsion systems, Space Shuttle facts, Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, technologies/materials originally developed for the space program, astronauts come from all over, potential future missions and example technologies, significant accomplishments, living and working in space, understanding our world, understanding worlds beyond, from exploration to innovation, inspiring the next generation, space economy, from exploration to opportunity, new program assignments, NASA's role in education, and images from deep space including a composite of a galaxy with a black hole, Sagittarius A, Pillars of Creation, and an ultra deep field

  6. Some Problems of Rocket-Space Vehicles' Characteristics co- ordination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sergienko, Alexander A.

    2002-01-01

    of the XX century suffered a reverse. The designers of the United States' firms and enterprises of aviation and rocket-space industry (Boeing, Rocketdyne, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell, etc.) and NASA (Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center and Lewis Research Center and others) could not correctly co-ordinate the characteristics of a propulsion system and a space vehicle for elaboration of the "Single-Stage-To-Orbit" reusable vehicle (SSTO) as an integral whole system, which is would able to inject a payload into an orbit and to return back on the Earth. jet nozzle design as well as the choice of propulsion system characteristics, ensuring the high ballistic efficiency, are considered in the present report. The efficiency criterions for the engine and launch system parameters optimization are discussed. The new methods of the nozzle block optimal parameters' choice for the satisfaction of the object task of flight are suggested. The family of SSTO with a payload mass from 5 to 20 ton and initial weight under 800 ton is considered.

  7. The repository-based software engineering program: Redefining AdaNET as a mainstream NASA source

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-01-01

    The Repository-based Software Engineering Program (RBSE) is described to inform and update senior NASA managers about the program. Background and historical perspective on software reuse and RBSE for NASA managers who may not be familiar with these topics are provided. The paper draws upon and updates information from the RBSE Concept Document, baselined by NASA Headquarters, Johnson Space Center, and the University of Houston - Clear Lake in April 1992. Several of NASA's software problems and what RBSE is now doing to address those problems are described. Also, next steps to be taken to derive greater benefit from this Congressionally-mandated program are provided. The section on next steps describes the need to work closely with other NASA software quality, technology transfer, and reuse activities and focuses on goals and objectives relative to this need. RBSE's role within NASA is addressed; however, there is also the potential for systematic transfer of technology outside of NASA in later stages of the RBSE program. This technology transfer is discussed briefly.

  8. Marshall Space Flight Center Faculty Fellowship Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Six, N. F. (Compiler)

    2015-01-01

    The Faculty Fellowship program was revived in the summer of 2015 at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, following a period of diminished faculty research activity here since 2006 when budget cuts in the Headquarters' Education Office required realignment. Several senior Marshall managers recognized the need to involve the Nation's academic research talent in NASA's missions and projects to the benefit of both entities. These managers invested their funds required to establish the renewed Faculty Fellowship program in 2015, a 10-week residential research involvement of 16 faculty in the laboratories and offices at Marshall. These faculty engineers and scientists worked with NASA collaborators on NASA projects, bringing new perspectives and solutions to bear. This Technical Memorandum is a compilation of the research reports of the 2015 Marshall Faculty Fellowship program, along with the Program Announcement (appendix A) and the Program Description (appendix B). The research touched on seven areas-propulsion, materials, instrumentation, fluid dynamics, human factors, control systems, and astrophysics. The propulsion studies included green propellants, gas bubble dynamics, and simulations of fluid and thermal transients. The materials investigations involved sandwich structures in composites, plug and friction stir welding, and additive manufacturing, including both strength characterization and thermosets curing in space. The instrumentation projects involved spectral interfero- metry, emissivity, and strain sensing in structures. The fluid dynamics project studied the water hammer effect. The human factors project investigated the requirements for close proximity operations in confined spaces. Another team proposed a controls system for small launch vehicles, while in astrophysics, one faculty researcher estimated the practicality of weather modification by blocking the Sun's insolation, and another found evidence in satellite data of the detection of a warm

  9. Climate Change and Vector Borne Diseases on NASA Langley Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Stuart K.; DeYoung, Russell J.; Shepanek, Marc A.; Kamel, Ahmed

    2014-01-01

    Increasing global temperature, weather patterns with above average storm intensities, and higher sea levels have been identified as phenomena associated with global climate change. As a causal system, climate change could contribute to vector borne diseases in humans. Vectors of concern originate from the vicinity of Langley Research Center include mosquitos and ticks that transmit disease that originate regionally, nationwide, or from outside the US. Recognizing changing conditions, vector borne diseases propagate under climate change conditions, and understanding the conditions in which they may exist or propagate, presents opportunities for monitoring their progress and mitigating their potential impacts through communication, continued monitoring, and adaptation. Personnel comprise a direct and fundamental support to NASA mission success, continuous and improved understanding of climatic conditions, and the resulting consequence of disease from these conditions, helps to reduce risk in terrestrial space technologies, ground operations, and space research. This research addresses conditions which are attributed to climatic conditions which promote environmental conditions conducive to the increase of disease vectors. This investigation includes evaluation of local mosquito population count and rainfall data for statistical correlation and identification of planning recommendations unique to LaRC, other NASA Centers to assess adaptation approaches, Center-level planning strategies.

  10. The writers guide to NASA. [NASA Centers and public affairs contacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    1978-01-01

    NASA services of interest to writers and to the news media include personal interviews, daily audio reports of major missions, and projects via automated telephone, research assistance from historians or history monitors at technical libraries, the use of a collection of historical photographs, and the free loan of sound films of NASA research and development activities. The names and phones numbers are listed for public affairs contacts at Headquarters and at each of the major centers and their component installations. An overview of the six NASA program offices is included along with a vicinity map of each center and a description of their facilities and management responsibilities.

  11. Next Generation NASA Initiative for Space Geodesy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merkowitz, S. M.; Desai, S.; Gross, R. S.; Hilliard, L.; Lemoine, F. G.; Long, J. L.; Ma, C.; McGarry J. F.; Murphy, D.; Noll, C. E.; hide

    2012-01-01

    Space geodesy measurement requirements have become more and more stringent as our understanding of the physical processes and our modeling techniques have improved. In addition, current and future spacecraft will have ever-increasing measurement capability and will lead to increasingly sophisticated models of changes in the Earth system. Ground-based space geodesy networks with enhanced measurement capability will be essential to meeting these oncoming requirements and properly interpreting the sate1!ite data. These networks must be globally distributed and built for longevity, to provide the robust data necessary to generate improved models for proper interpretation ofthe observed geophysical signals. These requirements have been articulated by the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). The NASA Space Geodesy Project (SGP) is developing a prototype core site as the basis for a next generation Space Geodetic Network (SGN) that would be NASA's contribution to a global network designed to produce the higher quality data required to maintain the Terrestrial Reference Frame and provide information essential for fully realizing the measurement potential of the current and coming generation of Earth Observing spacecraft. Each of the sites in the SGN would include co-located, state of-the-art systems from all four space geodetic observing techniques (GNSS, SLR, VLBI, and DORIS). The prototype core site is being developed at NASA's Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory at Goddard Space Flight Center. The project commenced in 2011 and is scheduled for completion in late 2013. In January 2012, two multiconstellation GNSS receivers, GODS and GODN, were established at the prototype site as part of the local geodetic network. Development and testing are also underway on the next generation SLR and VLBI systems along with a modern DORIS station. An automated survey system is being developed to measure inter-technique vector ties, and network design studies are being

  12. The "Very Cool" James Webb Space Telescope!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teague, Peter J. B.

    2018-01-01

    For over twenty years, scientists, engineers, technicians, and other personnel have been working on the next generation space telescope. As a partnership between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and ESA (European Space Angency), the James Webb Space Telescope will complement the previous research performed by the Hubble by utilizing a larger primary mirror, which will also be optimized for infrared wavelengths. This combination will allow JWST to collect data and take images of light having traveled over 13.7 billion light years. This presentation will focus on the mission, as well as the contamination control challenges during the integration and testing in the NASA Goddard Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility (SSDIF), one of the largest cleanrooms in the world. Additional information will be presented regarding space simulation testing down to a cool 20 degrees Kelvin [-424 degrees Fahrenheit] that will occur at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, and more testing and integration to happen at Northrop Grumman Corp., in Redondo Beach, CA. Launch of the JWST is currently scheduled for the spring of 2019 at Ariane Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.

  13. Science Engagement Through Hands-On Activities that Promote Scientific Thinking and Generate Excitement and Awareness of NASA Assets, Missions, and Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graff, P. V.; Foxworth, S.; Miller, R.; Runco, S.; Luckey, M. K.; Maudlin, E.

    2018-01-01

    The public with hands-on activities that infuse content related to NASA assets, missions, and science and reflect authentic scientific practices promotes understanding and generates excitement about NASA science, research, and exploration. These types of activities expose our next generation of explorers to science they may be inspired to pursue as a future STEM career and expose people of all ages to unique, exciting, and authentic aspects of NASA exploration. The activities discussed here (Blue Marble Matches, Lunar Geologist Practice, Let's Discover New Frontiers, Target Asteroid, and Meteorite Bingo) have been developed by Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Science Engagement Specialists in conjunction with ARES Scientists at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Activities are designed to be usable across a variety of educational environments (formal and informal) and reflect authentic scientific content and practices.

  14. Space Radiation Research at NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norbury, John

    2016-01-01

    The harmful effects of space radiation on astronauts is one of the most important limiting factors for human exploration of space beyond low Earth orbit, including a journey to Mars. This talk will present an overview of space radiation issues that arise throughout the solar system and will describe research efforts at NASA aimed at studying space radiation effects on astronauts, including the experimental program at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Recent work on galactic cosmic ray simulation at ground based accelerators will also be presented. The three major sources of space radiation, namely geomagnetically trapped particles, solar particle events and galactic cosmic rays will be discussed as well as recent discoveries of the harmful effects of space radiation on the human body. Some suggestions will also be given for developing a space radiation program in the Republic of Korea.

  15. Activities of the Center for Space Construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-01-01

    The Center for Space Construction (CSC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder is one of eight University Space Engineering Research Centers established by NASA in 1988. The mission of the center is to conduct research into space technology and to directly contribute to space engineering education. The center reports to the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and resides in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. The college has a long and successful track record of cultivating multi-disciplinary research and education programs. The Center for Space Construction is prominent evidence of this record. At the inception of CSC, the center was primarily founded on the need for research on in-space construction of large space systems like space stations and interplanetary space vehicles. The scope of CSC's research has now evolved to include the design and construction of all spacecraft, large and small. Within this broadened scope, our research projects seek to impact the underlying technological basis for such spacecraft as remote sensing satellites, communication satellites, and other special purpose spacecraft, as well as the technological basis for large space platforms. The center's research focuses on three areas: spacecraft structures, spacecraft operations and control, and regolith and surface systems. In the area of spacecraft structures, our current emphasis is on concepts and modeling of deployable structures, analysis of inflatable structures, structural damage detection algorithms, and composite materials for lightweight structures. In the area of spacecraft operations and control, we are continuing our previous efforts in process control of in-orbit structural assembly. In addition, we have begun two new efforts in formal approach to spacecraft flight software systems design and adaptive attitude control systems. In the area of regolith and surface systems, we are continuing the work of characterizing the physical properties of lunar

  16. Students build glovebox at Space Science Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    Students in the Young Astronaut Program at the Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, GA, constructed gloveboxes using the new NASA Student Glovebox Education Guide. The young astronauts used cardboard copier paper boxes as the heart of the glovebox. The paper boxes transformed into gloveboxes when the students pasted poster-pictures of an actual NASA microgravity science glovebox inside and outside of the paper boxes. The young astronauts then added holes for gloves and removable transparent top covers, which completed the construction of the gloveboxes. This image is from a digital still camera; higher resolution is not available.

  17. NASA's Space Launch Transitions: From Design to Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Askins, Bruce; Robinson, Kimberly

    2016-01-01

    NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) in 2015, a major milestone on the journey to an unprecedented era of exploration for humanity. CDR formally marked the program's transition from design to production phase just four years after the program's inception and the first such milestone for a human launch vehicle in 40 years. While challenges typical of a complex development program lie ahead, CDR evaluators concluded that the design is technically and programmatically sound and ready to press forward to Design Certification Review (DCR) and readiness for launch of Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) in the 2018 timeframe. SLS is prudently based on existing propulsion systems, infrastructure and knowledge with a clear, evolutionary path as required by mission needs. In its initial configuration, designated Block I, SLS will a minimum of 70 metric tons (t) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). It can evolve to a 130 t payload capacity by upgrading its engines, boosters, and upper stage, dramatically increasing the mass and volume of human and robotic exploration while decreasing mission risk, increasing safety, and simplifying ground and mission operations. CDR was the central programmatic accomplishment among many technical accomplishments that will be described in this paper. The government/industry SLS team successfully test fired a flight-like five-segment solid rocket motor, as well as seven hotfire development tests of the RS-25 core stage engine. The majority of the major test article and flight barrels, rings, and domes for the core stage liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, engine section, intertank, and forward skirt were manufactured at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing were completed at NASA Stennis Space Center. Core stage test stands are rising at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The modified Pegasus barge for core stage transportation from manufacturing

  18. Development of the CELSS Emulator at NASA JSC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cullingford, Hatice S.

    1989-01-01

    The Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Emulator is under development at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) with the purpose to investigate computer simulations of integrated CELSS operations involving humans, plants, and process machinery. This paper describes Version 1.0 of the CELSS Emulator that was initiated in 1988 on the JSC Multi Purpose Applications Console Test Bed as the simulation framework. The run module of the simulation system now contains a CELSS model called BLSS. The CELSS Emulator makes it possible to generate model data sets, store libraries of results for further analysis, and also display plots of model variables as a function of time. The progress of the project is presented with sample test runs and simulation display pages.

  19. Hybrid High-Fidelity Auscultation Scope, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — To address the NASA Johnson Space Center's need for a space auscultation capability, Physical Optics Corporation proposes to develop a Hybrid High-Fidelity...

  20. The MY NASA DATA Project: Tools and a Collaboration Space for Knowledge Discovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambers, L. H.; Alston, E. J.; Diones, D. D.; Moore, S. W.; Oots, P. C.; Phelps, C. S.

    2006-05-01

    The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center is charged with serving a wide user community that is interested in its large data holdings in the areas of Aerosols, Clouds, Radiation Budget, and Tropospheric Chemistry. Most of the data holdings, however, are in large files with specialized data formats. The MY NASA DATA (mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov) project began in 2004, as part of the NASA Research, Education, and Applications Solutions Network (REASoN), in order to open this important resource to a broader community including K-12 education and citizen scientists. MY NASA DATA (short for Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs) consists of a web space that collects tools, lesson plans, and specially developed documentation to help the target audience more easily use the vast collection of NASA data about the Earth System. The core piece of the MY NASA DATA project is the creation of microsets (both static and custom) that make data easily accessible. The installation of a Live Access Server (LAS) greatly enhanced the ability for teachers, students, and citizen scientists to create and explore custom microsets of Earth System Science data. The LAS, which is an open source software tool using emerging data standards, also allows the MY NASA DATA team to make available data on other aspects of the Earth System from collaborating data centers. We are currently working with the Physical Oceanography DAAC at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to bring in several parameters describing the ocean. In addition, MY NASA DATA serves as a central space for the K-12 community to share resources. The site already includes a dozen User-contributed lesson plans. This year we will be focusing on the Citizen Science portion of the site, and will be welcoming user-contributed project ideas, as well as reports of completed projects. An e-mentor network has also been created to involve a wider community in

  1. 76 FR 64122 - NASA Advisory Committee; Renewal of NASA's International Space Station Advisory Committee Charter

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-17

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (11-095)] NASA Advisory Committee; Renewal of NASA's International Space Station Advisory Committee Charter AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ACTION: Notice of renewal and amendment of the Charter of the International...

  2. Performing a Large-Scale Modal Test on the B2 Stand Crane at NASA's Stennis Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stasiunas, Eric C.; Parks, Russel A.; Sontag, Brendan D.

    2018-01-01

    A modal test of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage is scheduled to occur at the Stennis Space Center B2 test stand. A derrick crane with a 150-ft long boom, located at the top of the stand, will be used to suspend the Core Stage in order to achieve defined boundary conditions. During this suspended modal test, it is expected that dynamic coupling will occur between the crane and the Core Stage. Therefore, a separate modal test was performed on the B2 crane itself, in order to evaluate the varying dynamic characteristics and correlate math models of the crane. Performing a modal test on such a massive structure was challenging and required creative test setup and procedures, including implementing both AC and DC accelerometers, and performing both classical hammer and operational modal analysis. This paper describes the logistics required to perform this large-scale test, as well as details of the test setup, the modal test methods used, and an overview and application of the results.

  3. Stennis Space Center celebrates Diversity Day

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Kendall Mitchell of the Naval Oceanographic Office (right) learns about the culture of Bolivia from Narda Inchausty, president of the Foreign Born Wives Association in Slidell, La., during 2009 Diversity Day events at NASA's John Stennis Space Center. Stennis hosted Diversity Day activities for employees on Oct. 7. The day's events included cultural and agency exhibits, diversity-related performances, a trivia contest and a classic car and motorcycle show. It also featured the first-ever sitewide Stennis Employee Showcase.

  4. NASA IDEAS to Improve Instruction in Astronomy and Space Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malphrus, B.; Kidwell, K.

    1999-12-01

    The IDEAS to Improve Instructional Competencies in Astronomy and Space Science project is intended to develop and/or enhance teacher competencies in astronomy and space sciences of teacher participants (Grades 5-12) in Kentucky. The project is being implemented through a two-week summer workshop, a series of five follow-up meetings, and an academic year research project. The resources of Kentucky's only Radio Astronomy Observatory- the Morehead Radio Telescope (MRT), Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) (via remote observing using the Internet), and the Kentucky Department of Education regional service centers are combined to provide a unique educational experience. The project is designed to improve science teacher's instructional methodologies by providing pedagogical assistance, content training, involving the teachers and their students in research in radio astronomy, providing access to the facilities of the Morehead Astrophysical Observatory, and by working closely with a NASA-JOVE research astronomer. Participating teachers will ultimately produce curriculum units and research projects, the results of which will be published on the WWW. A major goal of this project is to share with teachers and ultimately students the excitement and importance of scientific research. The project represents a partnership of five agencies, each matching the commitment both financially and/or personnel. This project is funded by the NASA IDEAS initiative administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute and the National Air and Space Administration (NASA).

  5. Innovative Near Real-Time Data Dissemination Tools Developed by the Space Weather Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullinix, R.; Maddox, M. M.; Berrios, D.; Kuznetsova, M.; Pulkkinen, A.; Rastaetter, L.; Zheng, Y.

    2012-12-01

    Space weather affects virtually all of NASA's endeavors, from robotic missions to human exploration. Knowledge and prediction of space weather conditions are therefore essential to NASA operations. The diverse nature of currently available space environment measurements and modeling products compels the need for a single access point to such information. The Integrated Space Weather Analysis (iSWA) System provides this single point access along with the capability to collect and catalog a vast range of sources including both observational and model data. NASA Goddard Space Weather Research Center heavily utilizes the iSWA System daily for research, space weather model validation, and forecasting for NASA missions. iSWA provides the capabilities to view and analyze near real-time space weather data from any where in the world. This presentation will describe the technology behind the iSWA system and describe how to use the system for space weather research, forecasting, training, education, and sharing.

  6. NASA space geodesy program: Catalogue of site information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryant, M. A.; Noll, C. E.

    1993-01-01

    This is the first edition of the NASA Space Geodesy Program: Catalogue of Site Information. This catalogue supersedes all previous versions of the Crustal Dynamics Project: Catalogue of Site Information, last published in May 1989. This document is prepared under the direction of the Space Geodesy and Altimetry Projects Office (SGAPO), Code 920.1, Goddard Space Flight Center. SGAPO has assumed the responsibilities of the Crustal Dynamics Project, which officially ended December 31, 1991. The catalog contains information on all NASA supported sites as well as sites from cooperating international partners. This catalog is designed to provde descriptions and occupation histories of high-accuracy geodetic measuring sites employing space-related techniques. The emphasis of the catalog has been in the past, and continues to be with this edition, station information for facilities and remote locations utilizing the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) techniques. With the proliferation of high-quality Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) transponders, many co-located at established SLR and VLBI observatories, the requirement for accurate station and localized survey information for an ever broadening base of scientists and engineers has been recognized. It is our objective to provide accurate station information to scientific groups interested in these facilities.

  7. Community Coordinated Modeling Center: A Powerful Resource in Space Science and Space Weather Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chulaki, A.; Kuznetsova, M. M.; Rastaetter, L.; MacNeice, P. J.; Shim, J. S.; Pulkkinen, A. A.; Taktakishvili, A.; Mays, M. L.; Mendoza, A. M. M.; Zheng, Y.; Mullinix, R.; Collado-Vega, Y. M.; Maddox, M. M.; Pembroke, A. D.; Wiegand, C.

    2015-12-01

    Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) is a NASA affiliated interagency partnership with the primary goal of aiding the transition of modern space science models into space weather forecasting while supporting space science research. Additionally, over the past ten years it has established itself as a global space science education resource supporting undergraduate and graduate education and research, and spreading space weather awareness worldwide. A unique combination of assets, capabilities and close ties to the scientific and educational communities enable this small group to serve as a hub for raising generations of young space scientists and engineers. CCMC resources are publicly available online, providing unprecedented global access to the largest collection of modern space science models (developed by the international research community). CCMC has revolutionized the way simulations are utilized in classrooms settings, student projects, and scientific labs and serves hundreds of educators, students and researchers every year. Another major CCMC asset is an expert space weather prototyping team primarily serving NASA's interplanetary space weather needs. Capitalizing on its unrivaled capabilities and experiences, the team provides in-depth space weather training to students and professionals worldwide, and offers an amazing opportunity for undergraduates to engage in real-time space weather monitoring, analysis, forecasting and research. In-house development of state-of-the-art space weather tools and applications provides exciting opportunities to students majoring in computer science and computer engineering fields to intern with the software engineers at the CCMC while also learning about the space weather from the NASA scientists.

  8. NASA Space Biology Plant Research for 2010-2020

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levine, H. G.; Tomko, D. L.; Porterfield, D. M.

    2012-01-01

    The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) recently published "Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era" (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record id=13048), and NASA completed a Space Biology Science Plan to develop a strategy for implementing its recommendations ( http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/library/esmd documents.html). The most important recommendations of the NRC report on plant biology in space were that NASA should: (1) investigate the roles of microbial-plant systems in long-term bioregenerative life support systems, and (2) establish a robust spaceflight program of research analyzing plant growth and physiological responses to the multiple stimuli encountered in spaceflight environments. These efforts should take advantage of recently emerged analytical technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and apply modern cellular and molecular approaches in the development of a vigorous flight-based and ground-based research program. This talk will describe NASA's strategy and plans for implementing these NRC Plant Space Biology recommendations. New research capabilities for Plant Biology, optimized by providing state-of-the-art automated technology and analytical techniques to maximize scientific return, will be described. Flight experiments will use the most appropriate platform to achieve science results (e.g., ISS, free flyers, sub-orbital flights) and NASA will work closely with its international partners and other U.S. agencies to achieve its objectives. One of NASA's highest priorities in Space Biology is the development research capabilities for use on the International Space Station and other flight platforms for studying multiple generations of large plants. NASA will issue recurring NASA Research Announcements (NRAs) that include a rapid turn-around model to more fully engage the biology community in designing experiments to respond to the NRC recommendations. In doing so, NASA

  9. NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities: Restoring NASA's Technological Edge and Paving the Way for a New Era in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Success in executing future NASA space missions will depend on advanced technology developments that should already be underway. It has been years since NASA has had a vigorous, broad-based program in advanced space technology development, and NASA's technology base is largely depleted. As noted in a recent National Research Council report on the U.S. civil space program: Future U.S. leadership in space requires a foundation of sustained technology advances that can enable the development of more capable, reliable, and lower-cost spacecraft and launch vehicles to achieve space program goals. A strong advanced technology development foundation is needed also to enhance technology readiness of new missions, mitigate their technological risks, improve the quality of cost estimates, and thereby contribute to better overall mission cost management. Yet financial support for this technology base has eroded over the years. The United States is now living on the innovation funded in the past and has an obligation to replenish this foundational element. NASA has developed a draft set of technology roadmaps to guide the development of space technologies under the leadership of the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist. The NRC appointed the Steering Committee for NASA Technology Roadmaps and six panels to evaluate the draft roadmaps, recommend improvements, and prioritize the technologies within each and among all of the technology areas as NASA finalizes the roadmaps. The steering committee is encouraged by the initiative NASA has taken through the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) to develop technology roadmaps and to seek input from the aerospace technical community with this study.

  10. Return from space: from the International Space Station to CERN

    CERN Multimedia

    2012-01-01

    On 16 May 2011, the space shuttle Endeavour took off for the last time from Cape Canaveral in Florida with six astronauts on board. Their mission (code-named STS-134) was to install the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), the dark matter and antimatter detector designed at CERN, on the International Space Station. Since then, AMS has been sending data to CERN from space.   On Wednesday 25 July do not miss a rare opportunity to meet the mission’s six astronauts at CERN: Mark E. Kelly, commander (NASA) Greg H. Johnson, pilot (NASA) and the mission’s specialists: Michael Fincke (NASA) Roberto Vittori (ESA and ASI) Andrew J. Feustel (NASA) Greg Chamitoff (NASA) 4:20 pm: the event will kick off with a photo and autograph session at the Globe of Science and Innovation. 5 pm: lecture given by the astronauts for CERN personnel and summer students in the Main Auditorium. (Seats reserved for the summer students - contact: summer.student.info@cern.ch). ...

  11. The General-Use Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS) Modeling Package for Space Vehicle Flow System Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Jason; Moore, Michael

    2013-01-01

    The General-Use Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS) is a modeling software package that combines nodal analysis and the hydraulic-electric analogy to simulate fluid, electrical, and thermal flow systems. GUNNS is developed by L-3 Communications under the TS21 (Training Systems for the 21st Century) project for NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), primarily for use in space vehicle training simulators at JSC. It has sufficient compactness and fidelity to model the fluid, electrical, and thermal aspects of space vehicles in real-time simulations running on commodity workstations, for vehicle crew and flight controller training. It has a reusable and flexible component and system design, and a Graphical User Interface (GUI), providing capability for rapid GUI-based simulator development, ease of maintenance, and associated cost savings. GUNNS is optimized for NASA's Trick simulation environment, but can be run independently of Trick.

  12. 78 FR 77502 - NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-23

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (13-154)] NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ACTION: Notice of..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the NASA International Space...

  13. Selective Photoinitiated Electrophoretic Separator, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — To address NASA Johnson Space Center needs for gas separation and collection technology for lunar in-situ resource utilization, Physical Optics Corporation (POC)...

  14. High Power MPD Thruster Development at the NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaPointe, Michael R.; Mikellides, Pavlos G.; Reddy, Dhanireddy (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Propulsion requirements for large platform orbit raising, cargo and piloted planetary missions, and robotic deep space exploration have rekindled interest in the development and deployment of high power electromagnetic thrusters. Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thrusters can effectively process megawatts of power over a broad range of specific impulse values to meet these diverse in-space propulsion requirements. As NASA's lead center for electric propulsion, the Glenn Research Center has established an MW-class pulsed thruster test facility and is refurbishing a high-power steady-state facility to design, build, and test efficient gas-fed MPD thrusters. A complimentary numerical modeling effort based on the robust MACH2 code provides a well-balanced program of numerical analysis and experimental validation leading to improved high power MPD thruster performance. This paper reviews the current and planned experimental facilities and numerical modeling capabilities at the Glenn Research Center and outlines program plans for the development of new, efficient high power MPD thrusters.

  15. Technology Transfer Challenges: A Case Study of User-Centered Design in NASA's Systems Engineering Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quick, Jason

    2009-01-01

    The Upper Stage (US) section of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Ares I rocket will require internal access platforms for maintenance tasks performed by humans inside the vehicle. Tasks will occur during expensive critical path operations at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) including vehicle stacking and launch preparation activities. Platforms must be translated through a small human access hatch, installed in an enclosed worksite environment, support the weight of ground operators and be removed before flight - and their design must minimize additional vehicle mass at attachment points. This paper describes the application of a user-centered conceptual design process and the unique challenges encountered within NASA's systems engineering culture focused on requirements and "heritage hardware". The NASA design team at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) initiated the user-centered design process by studying heritage internal access kits and proposing new design concepts during brainstorming sessions. Simultaneously, they partnered with the Technology Transfer/Innovative Partnerships Program to research inflatable structures and dynamic scaffolding solutions that could enable ground operator access. While this creative, technology-oriented exploration was encouraged by upper management, some design stakeholders consistently opposed ideas utilizing novel, untested equipment. Subsequent collaboration with an engineering consulting firm improved the technical credibility of several options, however, there was continued resistance from team members focused on meeting system requirements with pre-certified hardware. After a six-month idea-generating phase, an intensive six-week effort produced viable design concepts that justified additional vehicle mass while optimizing the human factors of platform installation and use. Although these selected final concepts closely resemble heritage internal access platforms, challenges from the application of the

  16. The Applied Meteorology Unit: Nineteen Years Successfully Transitioning Research Into Operations for America's Space Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madura, John T.; Bauman, William H., III; Merceret, Francis J.; Roeder, William P.; Brody, Frank C.; Hagemeyer, Bartlett C.

    2011-01-01

    The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) provides technology development and transition services to improve operational weather support to America's space program . The AMU was founded in 1991 and operates under a triagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Air Force (USAF) and the National Weather Service (NWS) (Ernst and Merceret, 1995). It is colocated with the 45th Weather Squadron (45WS) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and funded by the Space Shuttle Program . Its primary customers are the 45WS, the Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) operated for NASA by the NWS at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX, and the NWS forecast office in Melbourne, FL (MLB). The gap between research and operations is well known. All too frequently, the process of transitioning research to operations fails for various reasons. The mission of the AMU is in essence to bridge this gap for America's space program.

  17. Robonaut: a robot designed to work with humans in space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bluethmann, William; Ambrose, Robert; Diftler, Myron; Askew, Scott; Huber, Eric; Goza, Michael; Rehnmark, Fredrik; Lovchik, Chris; Magruder, Darby

    2003-01-01

    The Robotics Technology Branch at the NASA Johnson Space Center is developing robotic systems to assist astronauts in space. One such system, Robonaut, is a humanoid robot with the dexterity approaching that of a suited astronaut. Robonaut currently has two dexterous arms and hands, a three degree-of-freedom articulating waist, and a two degree-of-freedom neck used as a camera and sensor platform. In contrast to other space manipulator systems, Robonaut is designed to work within existing corridors and use the same tools as space walking astronauts. Robonaut is envisioned as working with astronauts, both autonomously and by teleoperation, performing a variety of tasks including, routine maintenance, setting up and breaking down worksites, assisting crew members while outside of spacecraft, and serving in a rapid response capacity.

  18. Marshall Space Flight Center Faculty Fellowship Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Six, N. F.; Damiani, R. (Compiler)

    2017-01-01

    The 2017 Marshall Faculty Fellowship Program involved 21 faculty in the laboratories and departments at Marshall Space Flight Center. These faculty engineers and scientists worked with NASA collaborators on NASA projects, bringing new perspectives and solutions to bear. This Technical Memorandum is a compilation of the research reports of the 2017 Marshall Faculty Fellowship program, along with the Program Announcement (Appendix A) and the Program Description (Appendix B). The research affected the following six areas: (1) Materials (2) Propulsion (3) Instrumentation (4) Spacecraft systems (5) Vehicle systems (6) Space science The materials investigations included composite structures, printing electronic circuits, degradation of materials by energetic particles, friction stir welding, Martian and Lunar regolith for in-situ construction, and polymers for additive manufacturing. Propulsion studies were completed on electric sails and low-power arcjets for use with green propellants. Instrumentation research involved heat pipes, neutrino detectors, and remote sensing. Spacecraft systems research was conducted on wireless technologies, layered pressure vessels, and two-phase flow. Vehicle systems studies were performed on life support-biofilm buildup and landing systems. In the space science area, the excitation of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron waves observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission provided insight regarding the propagation of these waves. Our goal is to continue the Marshall Faculty Fellowship Program funded by Center internal project offices. Faculty Fellows in this 2017 program represented the following minority-serving institutions: Alabama A&M University and Oglala Lakota College.

  19. Futurepath: The Story of Research and Technology at NASA Lewis Research Center. Structures for Flight Propulsion, ARC Sprayed Monotape, National Aero-Space Plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    1989-01-01

    The story of research and technology at NASA Lewis Research Center's Structures Division is presented. The job and designs of the Structures Division needed for flight propulsion is described including structural mechanics, structural dynamics, fatigue, and fracture. The video briefly explains why properties of metals used in structural mechanics need to be tested. Examples of tests and simulations used in structural dynamics (bodies in motion) are briefly described. Destructive and non-destructive fatigue/fracture analysis is also described. The arc sprayed monotape (a composite material) is explained, as are the programs in which monotape plays a roll. Finally, the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP or x-30) is introduced, including the material development and metal matrix as well as how NASP will reduce costs for NASA.

  20. Space astronomy and astrophysics program by NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hertz, Paul L.

    2014-07-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently released the NASA Strategic Plan 20141, and the NASA Science Mission Directorate released the NASA 2014 Science Plan3. These strategic documents establish NASA's astrophysics strategic objectives to be (i) to discover how the universe works, (ii) to explore how it began and evolved, and (iii) to search for life on planets around other stars. The multidisciplinary nature of astrophysics makes it imperative to strive for a balanced science and technology portfolio, both in terms of science goals addressed and in missions to address these goals. NASA uses the prioritized recommendations and decision rules of the National Research Council's 2010 decadal survey in astronomy and astrophysics2 to set the priorities for its investments. The NASA Astrophysics Division has laid out its strategy for advancing the priorities of the decadal survey in its Astrophysics 2012 Implementation Plan4. With substantial input from the astrophysics community, the NASA Advisory Council's Astrophysics Subcommittee has developed an astrophysics visionary roadmap, Enduring Quests, Daring Visions5, to examine possible longer-term futures. The successful development of the James Webb Space Telescope leading to a 2018 launch is an Agency priority. One important goal of the Astrophysics Division is to begin a strategic mission, subject to the availability of funds, which follows from the 2010 decadal survey and is launched after the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA is studying a Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope as its next large astrophysics mission. NASA is also planning to partner with other space agencies on their missions as well as increase the cadence of smaller Principal Investigator led, competitively selected Astrophysics Explorers missions.

  1. 77 FR 41203 - NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-12

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-057] NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ACTION: Notice of..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces an open meeting of the NASA International...

  2. 77 FR 2765 - NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-19

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (12-003)] NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ACTION: Notice of..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces an open meeting of the NASA International...

  3. 77 FR 66082 - NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-01

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-090] NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ACTION: Notice of..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces an open meeting of the NASA International...

  4. Anomaly Analysis: NASA's Engineering and Safety Center Checks Recurring Shuttle Glitches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morring, Frank, Jr.

    2004-01-01

    The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), set up in the wake of the Columbia accident to backstop engineers in the space shuttle program, is reviewing hundreds of recurring anomalies that the program had determined don't affect flight safety to see if in fact they might. The NESC is expanding its support to other programs across the agency, as well. The effort, which will later extend to the International Space Station (ISS), is a principal part of the attempt to overcome the normalization of deviance--a situation in which organizations proceeded as if nothing was wrong in the face of evidence that something was wrong--cited by sociologist Diane Vaughn as contributing to both space shuttle disasters.

  5. Growing Food for Space and Earth: NASA's Contributions to Vertical Agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Raymond M.

    2015-01-01

    Beginning in the 1980s with NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Program and later the 1990s and early 2000s with the Advanced Life Support Project, NASA conducted extensive testing with crops in controlled environment conditions. One series of tests conducted at Kennedy Space Center used a large chamber with vertically stacked shelves to support hydroponic growing trays, with a bank of electric lamps above each shelf. This is essentially the same approach that has become popular for use in so-called vertical agriculture systems, which attempts to optimize plant production in a fixed volume. Some of the findings and commonalities of NASA's work during this period and how it overlaps with current interests in vertical agriculture will be presented in the talk.

  6. New NASA Technologies for Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calle, Carlos I.

    2015-01-01

    NASA is developing new technologies to enable planetary exploration. NASA's Space Launch System is an advance vehicle for exploration beyond LEO. Robotic explorers like the Mars Science Laboratory are exploring Mars, making discoveries that will make possible the future human exploration of the planet. In this presentation, we report on technologies being developed at NASA KSC for planetary exploration.

  7. An Overview of the Antenna Measurement Facilities at the NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, Kevin M.; Anzic, Godfrey; Zakrajsek, Robert J.; Zaman, Afroz J.

    2002-10-01

    For the past twenty years, the NASA Glenn Research Center (formerly Lewis Research Center) in Cleveland, Ohio, has developed and maintained facilities for the evaluation of antennas. This effort has been in support of the work being done at the center in the research and development of space communication systems. The wide variety of antennas that have been considered for these systems resulted in a need for several types of antenna ranges at the Glenn Research Center. Four ranges, which are part of the Microwave Systems Laboratory, are the responsibility of the staff of the Applied RF Technology Branch. A general description of these ranges is provided in this paper.

  8. Dual-Use Space Technology Transfer Conference and Exhibition. Volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishen, Kumar (Compiler)

    1994-01-01

    This document contains papers presented at the Dual-Use Space Technology Transfer Conference and Exhibition held at the Johnson Space Center February 1-3, 1994. Possible technology transfers covered during the conference were in the areas of information access; innovative microwave and optical applications; materials and structures; marketing and barriers; intelligent systems; human factors and habitation; communications and data systems; business process and technology transfer; software engineering; biotechnology and advanced bioinstrumentation; communications signal processing and analysis; new ways of doing business; medical care; applications derived from control center data systems; human performance evaluation; technology transfer methods; mathematics, modeling, and simulation; propulsion; software analysis and decision tools systems/processes in human support technology; networks, control centers, and distributed systems; power; rapid development perception and vision technologies; integrated vehicle health management; automation technologies; advanced avionics; ans robotics technologies. More than 77 papers, 20 presentations, and 20 exhibits covering various disciplines were presented b experts from NASA, universities, and industry.

  9. NASA Life Sciences Data Repositories: Tools for Retrospective Analysis and Future Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, D.; Wear, M.; VanBaalen, M.; Lee, L.; Fitts, M.

    2011-01-01

    As NASA transitions from the Space Shuttle era into the next phase of space exploration, the need to ensure the capture, analysis, and application of its research and medical data is of greater urgency than at any other previous time. In this era of limited resources and challenging schedules, the Human Research Program (HRP) based at NASA s Johnson Space Center (JSC) recognizes the need to extract the greatest possible amount of information from the data already captured, as well as focus current and future research funding on addressing the HRP goal to provide human health and performance countermeasures, knowledge, technologies, and tools to enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration. To this end, the Science Management Office and the Medical Informatics and Health Care Systems Branch within the HRP and the Space Medicine Division have been working to make both research data and clinical data more accessible to the user community. The Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA), the research repository housing data and information regarding the physiologic effects of microgravity, and the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH-R), the clinical repository housing astronaut data, have joined forces to achieve this goal. The task of both repositories is to acquire, preserve, and distribute data and information both within the NASA community and to the science community at large. This is accomplished via the LSDA s public website (http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov), which allows access to experiment descriptions including hardware, datasets, key personnel, mission descriptions and a mechanism for researchers to request additional data, research and clinical, that is not accessible from the public website. This will result in making the work of NASA and its partners available to the wider sciences community, both domestic and international. The desired outcome is the use of these data for knowledge discovery, retrospective analysis, and planning of future

  10. Friction Stir Welding Development at NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, Biliyar N.; Carter, Robert W.; Ding, Robert J.; Lawless, Kirby G.; Nunes, Arthur C., Jr.; Russell, Carolyn K.; Shah, Sandeep R.

    2001-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of friction stir welding (FSW) process development and applications at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). FSW process development started as a laboratory curiosity but soon found support from many users. The FSW process advanced very quickly and has found many applications both within and outside the aerospace industry. It is currently being adapted for joining key elements of the Space Shuttle External Tank for improved producibility and reliability. FSW process modeling is done to better understand and improve the process. Special tools have been developed to weld variable thickness materials including thin and thick materials. FSW is now being applied to higher temperature materials such as copper and to advanced materials such as metal matrix composites. FSW technology is being successfully transferred from MSFC laboratory to shop floors of many commercial companies.

  11. Expedition Earth and Beyond: Engaging Classrooms in Student-Led Research Using NASA Data, Access to Scientists, and Integrated Educational Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graff, P. V.; Stefanov, W. L.; Willis, K. J.; Runco, S.; McCollum, T.; Baker, M.; Lindgren, C.; Mailhot, M.

    2011-01-01

    Classroom teachers are challenged with engaging and preparing today s students for the future. Activities are driven by state required skills, education standards, and high-stakes testing. Providing educators with standards-aligned, inquiry-based activities that will help them engage their students in student-led research in the classroom will help them teach required standards, essential skills, and help inspire their students to become motivated learners. The Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Education Program, classroom educators, and ARES scientists at the NASA Johnson Space Center created the Expedition Earth and Beyond education program to help teachers promote student-led research in their classrooms (grades 5-14) by using NASA data, providing access to scientists, and using integrated educational strategies.

  12. The Development of the Acoustic Design of NASA Glenn Research Center's New Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Mark E.; Hozman, Aron D.; McNelis, Anne M.

    2011-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is leading the design and build of the new world-class vibroacoustic test capabilities at the NASA GRC s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. Benham Companies, LLC is currently constructing modal, base-shake sine and reverberant acoustic test facilities to support the future testing needs of NASA s space exploration program. The large Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) will be approximately 101,000 ft3 in volume and capable of achieving an empty chamber acoustic overall sound pressure level (OASPL) of 163 dB. This combination of size and acoustic power is unprecedented amongst the world s known active reverberant acoustic test facilities. The key to achieving the expected acoustic test spectra for a range of many NASA space flight environments in the RATF is the knowledge gained from a series of ground acoustic tests. Data was obtained from several NASA-sponsored test programs, including testing performed at the National Research Council of Canada s acoustic test facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and at the Redstone Technical Test Center acoustic test facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The majority of these tests were performed to characterize the acoustic performance of the modulators (noise generators) and representative horns that would be required to meet the desired spectra, as well as to evaluate possible supplemental gas jet noise sources. The knowledge obtained in each of these test programs enabled the design of the RATF sound generation system to confidently advance to its final acoustic design and subsequent on-going construction.

  13. Coupled Loads Analysis of the Modified NASA Barge Pegasus and Space Launch System Hardware

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, J. Brent

    2015-01-01

    A Coupled Loads Analysis (CLA) has been performed for barge transport of Space Launch System hardware on the recently modified NASA barge Pegasus. The barge re-design was facilitated with detailed finite element analyses by the ARMY Corps of Engineers - Marine Design Center. The Finite Element Model (FEM) utilized in the design was also used in the subject CLA. The Pegasus FEM and CLA results are presented as well as a comparison of the analysis process to that of a payload being transported to space via the Space Shuttle. Discussion of the dynamic forcing functions is included as well. The process of performing a dynamic CLA of NASA hardware during marine transport is thought to be a first and can likely support minimization of undue conservatism.

  14. A Coordinated Initialization Process for the Distributed Space Exploration Simulation (DSES)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Robert; Dexter, Dan; Hasan, David; Crues, Edwin Z.

    2007-01-01

    This document describes the federate initialization process that was developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center with the HIIA Transfer Vehicle Flight Controller Trainer (HTV FCT) simulations and refined in the Distributed Space Exploration Simulation (DSES). These simulations use the High Level Architecture (HLA) IEEE 1516 to provide the communication and coordination between the distributed parts of the simulation. The purpose of the paper is to describe a generic initialization sequence that can be used to create a federate that can: 1. Properly initialize all HLA objects, object instances, interactions, and time management 2. Check for the presence of all federates 3. Coordinate startup with other federates 4. Robustly initialize and share initial object instance data with other federates.

  15. MIT-NASA/KSC space life science experiments - A telescience testbed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oman, Charles M.; Lichtenberg, Byron K.; Fiser, Richard L.; Vordermark, Deborah S.

    1990-01-01

    Experiments performed at MIT to better define Space Station information system telescience requirements for effective remote coaching of astronauts by principal investigators (PI) on the ground are described. The experiments were conducted via satellite video, data, and voice links to surrogate crewmembers working in a laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Teams of two PIs and two crewmembers performed two different space life sciences experiments. During 19 three-hour interactive sessions, a variety of test conditions were explored. Since bit rate limits are necessarily imposed on Space Station video experiments surveillance video was varied down to 50 Kb/s and the effectiveness of PI controlled frame rate, resolution, grey scale, and color decimation was investigated. It is concluded that remote coaching by voice works and that dedicated crew-PI voice loops would be of great value on the Space Station.

  16. Technology Development for Hydrogen Propellant Storage and Transfer at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youngquist, Robert; Starr, Stanley; Krenn, Angela; Captain, Janine; Williams, Martha

    2016-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a major user of liquid hydrogen. In particular, NASA's John F. Kennedy (KSC) Space Center has operated facilities for handling and storing very large quantities of liquid hydrogen (LH2) since the early 1960s. Safe operations pose unique challenges and as a result NASA has invested in technology development to improve operational efficiency and safety. This paper reviews recent innovations including methods of leak and fire detection and aspects of large storage tank health and integrity. We also discuss the use of liquid hydrogen in space and issues we are addressing to ensure safe and efficient operations should hydrogen be used as a propellant derived from in-situ volatiles.

  17. Center for commercial applications of combustion in space (CCACS); A partnership for space commercialization at the Colorado School of Mines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schowengerdt, F. D.; Kee, Bob; Linne, Mark; McKinnon, Tom; Moore, John; Parker, Terry; Readey, Dennis; Tilton, John E.; Helble, Joe

    1997-01-01

    The Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space (CCACS) is a NASA/Industry/University consortium at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). The mission of the Center is to assist industry in developing commercial products by conducting combustion research which takes advantage of the unique properties of space. By conducting experiments in near-zero gravity, convection and buoyancy effects can be minimized and new fundamental design-related knowledge can be gained which can be used to improve combustion-related products and processes on earth. Companies, government laboratories and universities most actively involved in CCACS at present include ABB Combustion, ADA Technologies, Advanced Refractory Technologies, Golden Technologies, Lockheed-Martin, Southwest Sciences, Space Systems/Lora, NASA-Lewis, JPL, the Baylor Dental School and the University of Connecticut. Products and processes of interest to the Center participants include industrial process combustors; catalytic combustion; Halon replacements; ceramic powders, whiskers and fibers; metal-matrix composites; NiTi for bone replacement; diamond coatings for oil-well drill bits; zeolites; imaging sensor arrays and other instrumentation for flame and particulate diagnostics. The center also assists member companies in marketing the resulting products and processes.

  18. Applied Computational Fluid Dynamics at NASA Ames Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holst, Terry L.; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    The field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has advanced to the point where it can now be used for many applications in fluid mechanics research and aerospace vehicle design. A few applications being explored at NASA Ames Research Center will be presented and discussed. The examples presented will range in speed from hypersonic to low speed incompressible flow applications. Most of the results will be from numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes or Euler equations in three space dimensions for general geometry applications. Computational results will be used to highlight the presentation as appropriate. Advances in computational facilities including those associated with NASA's CAS (Computational Aerosciences) Project of the Federal HPCC (High Performance Computing and Communications) Program will be discussed. Finally, opportunities for future research will be presented and discussed. All material will be taken from non-sensitive, previously-published and widely-disseminated work.

  19. Electrochemical Disinfection Feasibility Assessment Materials Evaluation for the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriquez, Branelle; Shindo, David; Montgomery, Eliza

    2013-01-01

    The International Space Station (ISS) Program recognizes the risk of microbial contamination in their potable and non-potable water sources. The end of the Space Shuttle Program limited the ability to send up shock kits of biocides in the event of an outbreak. Currently, the United States Orbital Segment water system relies primarily on iodine to mitigate contamination concerns, which has been successful in remediating the small cases of contamination documented. However, a secondary method of disinfection is a necessary investment for future space flight. Over the past year, NASA Johnson Space Center has investigated the development of electrochemically generated systems for use on the ISS. These systems include: hydrogen peroxide, ozone, sodium hypochlorite, and peracetic acid. To use these biocides on deployed water systems, NASA must understand of the effect these biocides have on current ISS materials prior to proceeding forward with possible on-orbit applications. This paper will discuss the material testing that was conducted to assess the effects of the biocides on current ISS materials.

  20. Development and Certification of Ultrasonic Background Noise Test (UBNT) System for use on the International Space Station (ISS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prosser, William H.; Madaras, Eric I.

    2011-01-01

    As a next step in the development and implementation of an on-board leak detection and localization system on the International Space Station (ISS), there is a documented need to obtain measurements of the ultrasonic background noise levels that exist within the ISS. This need is documented in the ISS Integrated Risk Management System (IRMA), Watch Item #4669. To address this, scientists and engineers from the Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Johnson Space Center (JSC), proposed to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) and the ISS Vehicle Office a joint assessment to develop a flight package as a Station Development Test Objective (SDTO) that would perform ultrasonic background noise measurements within the United States (US) controlled ISS structure. This document contains the results of the assessment

  1. NASA's Astrophysics Data Archives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasan, H.; Hanisch, R.; Bredekamp, J.

    2000-09-01

    The NASA Office of Space Science has established a series of archival centers where science data acquired through its space science missions is deposited. The availability of high quality data to the general public through these open archives enables the maximization of science return of the flight missions. The Astrophysics Data Centers Coordinating Council, an informal collaboration of archival centers, coordinates data from five archival centers distiguished primarily by the wavelength range of the data deposited there. Data are available in FITS format. An overview of NASA's data centers and services is presented in this paper. A standard front-end modifyer called `Astrowbrowse' is described. Other catalog browsers and tools include WISARD and AMASE supported by the National Space Scince Data Center, as well as ISAIA, a follow on to Astrobrowse.

  2. Private Astronaut Training Prepares Commercial Crews of Tomorrow

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    A new company that includes a handful of former NASA personnel is already taking applications for the first comprehensive commercial astronaut training approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Waypoint 2 Space, located at Johnson Space Center, hopes to draw space tourists and enthusiasts and future commercial crewmembers with first-hand NASA know-how, as well as agency training technology.

  3. Esrange Space Center, a Gate to Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widell, Ola

    Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) is operating the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. Space operations have been performed for more than 40 years. We have a unique combination of maintaining balloon and rocket launch operations, and building payloads, providing space vehicles and service systems. Sub-orbital rocket flights with land recovery and short to long duration balloon flights up to weeks are offered. The geographical location, land recovery area and the long term experience makes Swedish Space Corporation and Esrange to an ideal gate for space activities. Stratospheric balloons are primarily used in supporting atmospheric research, validation of satellites and testing of space systems. Balloon operations have been carried out at Esrange since 1974. A large number of balloon flights are yearly launched in cooperation with CNES, France. Since 2005 NASA/CSBF and Esrange provide long duration balloon flights to North America. Flight durations up to 5 days with giant balloons (1.2 Million cubic metres) carrying heavy payload (up to 2500kg) with astronomical instruments has been performed. Balloons are also used as a crane for lifting space vehicles or parachute systems to be dropped and tested from high altitude. Many scientific groups both in US, Europe and Japan have indicated a great need of long duration balloon flights. Esrange will perform a technical polar circum balloon flight during the summer 2008 testing balloon systems and flight technique. We are also working on a permission giving us the opportunity on a circular stratospheric balloon flight around the North Pole.

  4. NASA's Space Launch System Development Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyles, Garry

    2014-01-01

    Development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Space Launch System (SLS) heavy lift rocket is shifting from the formulation phase into the implementation phase in 2014, a little more than 3 years after formal program establishment. Current development is focused on delivering a vehicle capable of launching 70 metric tons (t) into low Earth orbit. This "Block 1" configuration will launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) on its first autonomous flight beyond the Moon and back in December 2017, followed by its first crewed flight in 2021. SLS can evolve to a130t lift capability and serve as a baseline for numerous robotic and human missions ranging from a Mars sample return to delivering the first astronauts to explore another planet. Benefits associated with its unprecedented mass and volume include reduced trip times and simplified payload design. Every SLS element achieved significant, tangible progress over the past year. Among the Program's many accomplishments are: manufacture of core stage test barrels and domes; testing of Solid Rocket Booster development hardware including thrust vector controls and avionics; planning for RS- 25 core stage engine testing; and more than 4,000 wind tunnel runs to refine vehicle configuration, trajectory, and guidance. The Program shipped its first flight hardware - the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Stage Adapter (MSA) - to the United Launch Alliance for integration with the Delta IV heavy rocket that will launch an Orion test article in 2014 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Program successfully completed Preliminary Design Review in 2013 and will complete Key Decision Point C in 2014. NASA has authorized the Program to move forward to Critical Design Review, scheduled for 2015 and a December 2017 first launch. The Program's success to date is due to prudent use of proven technology, infrastructure, and workforce from the Saturn and Space Shuttle programs, a streamlined management

  5. Research and Technology at the John F. Kennedy Space Center 1993

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-01-01

    As the NASA Center responsible for assembly, checkout, servicing, launch, recovery, and operational support of Space Transportation System elements and payloads, the John F. Kennedy Space Center is placing increasing emphasis on its advanced technology development program. This program encompasses the efforts of the Engineering Development Directorate laboratories, most of the KSC operations contractors, academia, and selected commercial industries - all working in a team effort within their own areas of expertise. This edition of the Kennedy Space Center Research and Technology 1993 Annual Report covers efforts of all these contributors to the KSC advanced technology development program, as well as our technology transfer activities. Major areas of research include material science, advanced software, industrial engineering, nondestructive evaluation, life sciences, atmospheric sciences, environmental technology, robotics, and electronics and instrumentation.

  6. 3rd Annual NASA Ames Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dotson, Jessie

    2015-01-01

    The Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center consists of over 50 civil servants and more than 110 contractors, co-­-ops, post-­-docs and associates. Researchers in the division are pursuing investigations in a variety of fields including exoplanets, planetary science, astrobiology and astrophysics. In addition, division personnel support a wide variety of NASA missions including (but not limited to) Kepler, SOFIA, LADEE, JWST, and New Horizons. With such a wide variety of interesting research going on, distributed among three branches in at least 5 different buildings, it can be difficult to stay abreast of what one's fellow researchers are doing. Our goal in organizing this symposium is to facilitate communication and collaboration among the scientists within the division, and to give center management and other ARC researchers and engineers an opportunity to see what scientific research and science mission work is being done in the division. We are also continuing the tradition within the Space Science and Astrobiology Division to honor one senior and one early career scientist with the Pollack Lecture and the Early Career Lecture, respectively. With the Pollack Lecture, our intent is to select a senior researcher who has made significant contributions to any area of research within the space sciences, and we are pleased to honor Dr. William Borucki this year. With the Early Career Lecture, our intent is to select a young researcher within the division who, by their published scientific papers, shows great promise for the future in any area of space science research, and we are pleased to honor Dr. Melinda Kahre this year

  7. 75 FR 70951 - NASA Advisory Council; NASA Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-19

    .... ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW., Glennan Conference Center Room 1Q39, Washington, DC 20546... identification such as a driver's license to enter the NASA Headquarters building (West Lobby--Visitor Control..., company affiliation (if applicable) to include address, telephone number, and their title, place of birth...

  8. 77 FR 67028 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-08

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-093] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee reports to the NAC. The [[Page 67029

  9. 76 FR 3673 - NASA Advisory Council; Space Operations Committee; Meeting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-20

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (11-005)] NASA Advisory Council; Space..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council.... ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW., Room 7C61, Washington, DC 20546. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...

  10. Status of NASA's Space Launch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honeycutt, John; Lyles, Garry

    2016-01-01

    NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2015 and 2016, completing hardware and testing that brings NASA closer to a new era of deep space exploration. Programmatically, SLS completed Critical Design Review (CDR) in 2015. A team of independent reviewers concluded that the vehicle design is technically and programmatically ready to move to Design Certification Review (DCR) and launch readiness in 2018. Just five years after program start, every major element has amassed development and flight hardware and completed key tests that will lead to an accelerated pace of manufacturing and testing in 2016 and 2017. Key to SLS' rapid progress has been the use of existing technologies adapted to the new launch vehicle. The existing fleet of RS-25 engines is undergoing adaptation tests to prove it can meet SLS requirements and environments with minimal change. The four-segment shuttle-era booster has been modified and updated with a fifth propellant segment, new insulation, and new avionics. The Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage is a modified version of an existing upper stage. The first Block I SLS configuration will launch a minimum of 70 metric tons (t) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The vehicle architecture has a clear evolutionary path to more than 100t and, ultimately, to 130t. Among the program's major 2015-2016 accomplishments were two booster qualification hotfire tests, a series of RS-25 adaptation hotfire tests, manufacturing of most of the major components for both core stage test articles and first flight tank, delivery of the Pegasus core stage barge, and the upper stage simulator. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing was completed at NASA Stennis Space Center. This year will see the completion of welding for all qualification and flight EM-1 core stage components and testing of flight avionics, completion of core stage structural test stands, casting of the EM-1 solid rocket motors, additional testing

  11. Conceptual Design of a Condensing Heat Exchanger for Space Systems Using Porous Media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasan, Mohammad M.; Khan, Lutful I.; Nayagam, Vedha; Balasubramaniam, Ramaswamy

    2006-01-01

    Condensing heat exchangers are used in many space applications in the thermal and humidity control systems. In the International Space Station (ISS), humidity control is achieved by using a water cooled fin surface over which the moist air condenses, followed by "slurper bars" that take in both the condensate and air into a rotary separator and separates the water from air. The use of a cooled porous substrate as the condensing surface provides and attractive alternative that combines both heat removal as well as liquid/gas separation into a single unit. By selecting the pore sizes of the porous substrate a gravity independent operation may also be possible with this concept. Condensation of vapor into and on the porous surface from the flowing air and the removal of condensate from the porous substrate are the critical processes involved in the proposed concept. This paper describes some preliminary results of the proposed condensate withdrawal process and discusses the on-going design and development work of a porous media based condensing heat exchanger at the NASA Glenn Research Center in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center.

  12. Space Images for NASA/JPL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boggs, Karen; Gutheinz, Sandy C.; Watanabe, Susan M.; Oks, Boris; Arca, Jeremy M.; Stanboli, Alice; Peez, Martin; Whatmore, Rebecca; Kang, Minliang; Espinoza, Luis A.

    2010-01-01

    Space Images for NASA/JPL is an Apple iPhone application that allows the general public to access featured images from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). A back-end infrastructure stores, tracks, and retrieves space images from the JPL Photojournal Web server, and catalogs the information into a streamlined rating infrastructure.

  13. 78 FR 10213 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-13

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 13-012] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee reports to the NAC. The meeting will be held...

  14. 77 FR 38678 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-28

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (12-052)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee reports to the NAC. The meeting will be held...

  15. 78 FR 42111 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-15

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (13-080)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial..., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee reports to the NAC. The meeting will be held...

  16. The NASA Advanced Space Power Systems Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mercer, Carolyn R.; Hoberecht, Mark A.; Bennett, William R.; Lvovich, Vadim F.; Bugga, Ratnakumar

    2015-01-01

    The goal of the NASA Advanced Space Power Systems Project is to develop advanced, game changing technologies that will provide future NASA space exploration missions with safe, reliable, light weight and compact power generation and energy storage systems. The development effort is focused on maturing the technologies from a technology readiness level of approximately 23 to approximately 56 as defined in the NASA Procedural Requirement 7123.1B. Currently, the project is working on two critical technology areas: High specific energy batteries, and regenerative fuel cell systems with passive fluid management. Examples of target applications for these technologies are: extending the duration of extravehicular activities (EVA) with high specific energy and energy density batteries; providing reliable, long-life power for rovers with passive fuel cell and regenerative fuel cell systems that enable reduced system complexity. Recent results from the high energy battery and regenerative fuel cell technology development efforts will be presented. The technical approach, the key performance parameters and the technical results achieved to date in each of these new elements will be included. The Advanced Space Power Systems Project is part of the Game Changing Development Program under NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate.

  17. Using C-Band Dual-Polarization Radar Signatures to Improve Convective Wind Forecasting at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amiot, Corey G.; Carey, Lawrence D.; Roeder, William P.; McNamara, Todd M.; Blakeslee, Richard J.

    2017-01-01

    The United States Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron (45WS) is the organization responsible for monitoring atmospheric conditions at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA Kennedy Space Center (CCAFS/KSC) and issuing warnings for hazardous weather conditions when the need arises. One such warning is issued for convective wind events, for which lead times of 30 and 60 minutes are desired for events with peak wind gusts of 35 knots or greater (i.e., Threshold-1) and 50 knots or greater (i.e., Threshold-2), respectively (Roeder et al. 2014).

  18. 76 FR 40753 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-11

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (11-061)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial...: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA...

  19. Z-1 Prototype Space Suit Testing Summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Amy

    2013-01-01

    The Advanced Space Suit team of the NASA-Johnson Space Center performed a series of test with the Z-1 prototype space suit in 2012. This paper discusses, at a summary level, the tests performed and results from those tests. The purpose of the tests were two-fold: 1) characterize the suit performance so that the data could be used in the downselection of components for the Z-2 Space Suit and 2) develop interfaces with the suitport and exploration vehicles through pressurized suit evaluations. Tests performed included isolated and functional range of motion data capture, Z-1 waist and hip testing, joint torque testing, CO2 washout testing, fit checks and subject familiarizations, an exploration vehicle aft deck and suitport controls interface evaluation, delta pressure suitport tests including pressurized suit don and doff, and gross mobility and suitport ingress and egress demonstrations in reduced gravity. Lessons learned specific to the Z-1 prototype and to suit testing techniques will be presented.

  20. A Unique Outside Neutron and Gamma Ray Instrumentation Development Test Facility at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodnarik, J.; Evans, L.; Floyd, S.; Lim, L.; McClanahan, T.; Namkung, M.; Parsons, A.; Schweitzer, J.; Starr, R.; Trombka, J.

    2010-01-01

    An outside neutron and gamma ray instrumentation test facility has been constructed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to evaluate conceptual designs of gamma ray and neutron systems that we intend to propose for future planetary lander and rover missions. We will describe this test facility and its current capabilities for operation of planetary in situ instrumentation, utilizing a l4 MeV pulsed neutron generator as the gamma ray excitation source with gamma ray and neutron detectors, in an open field with the ability to remotely monitor and operate experiments from a safe distance at an on-site building. The advantage of a permanent test facility with the ability to operate a neutron generator outside and the flexibility to modify testing configurations is essential for efficient testing of this type of technology. Until now, there have been no outdoor test facilities for realistically testing neutron and gamma ray instruments planned for solar system exploration

  1. NASA's current activities in free space optical communications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Bernard L.

    2017-11-01

    NASA and other space agencies around the world are currently developing free space optical communication systems for both space-to-ground links and space-to-space links. This paper provides an overview of NASA's current activities in free space optical communications with a focus on Near Earth applications. Activities to be discussed include the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, and the commercialization of the underlying technology. The paper will also briefly discuss ongoing efforts and studies for Deep Space optical communications. Finally the paper will discuss the development of international optical communication standards within the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems.

  2. Gregory Merkel Tours Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    1972-01-01

    Gregory A. Merkel (left), high school student from Springfield, Massachusetts, is pictured here with Harry Coons of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) during a visit to the center. Merkel was among 25 winners of a contest in which some 3,500 high school students proposed experiments for the following year's Skylab mission. The nationwide scientific competition was sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The winning students, along with their parents and sponsor teachers, visited MSFC where they met with scientists and engineers, participated in design reviews for their experiments, and toured MSFC facilities. Of the 25 students, 6 did not see their experiments conducted on Skylab because the experiments were not compatible with Skylab hardware and timelines. Of the 19 remaining, 11 experiments required the manufacture of additional equipment.

  3. Integrating Space Flight Resource Management Skills into Technical Lessons for International Space Station Flight Controller Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Evelyn

    2008-01-01

    The Johnson Space Center s (JSC) International Space Station (ISS) Space Flight Resource Management (SFRM) training program is designed to teach the team skills required to be an effective flight controller. It was adapted from the SFRM training given to Shuttle flight controllers to fit the needs of a "24 hours a day/365 days a year" flight controller. More recently, the length reduction of technical training flows for ISS flight controllers impacted the number of opportunities for fully integrated team scenario based training, where most SFRM training occurred. Thus, the ISS SFRM training program is evolving yet again, using a new approach of teaching and evaluating SFRM alongside of technical materials. Because there are very few models in other industries that have successfully tied team and technical skills together, challenges are arising. Despite this, the Mission Operations Directorate of NASA s JSC is committed to implementing this integrated training approach because of the anticipated benefits.

  4. NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) Advanced Technology AT5 Virtualized Infiniband Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, John H.; Bledsoe, Benjamin C.; Wagner, Mark; Shakshober, John; Fromkin, Russ

    2013-01-01

    The NCCS is part of the Computational and Information Sciences and Technology Office (CISTO) of Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Sciences and Exploration Directorate. The NCCS's mission is to enable scientists to increase their understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe by supplying state-of-the-art high performance computing (HPC) solutions. To accomplish this mission, the NCCS (https://www.nccs.nasa.gov) provides high performance compute engines, mass storage, and network solutions to meet the specialized needs of the Earth and space science user communities

  5. Replacement of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) -225 Solvent for Cleaning and Verification Sampling of NASA Propulsion Oxygen Systems Hardware, Ground Support Equipment, and Associated Test Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Mark A.; Lowrey, Nikki M.

    2015-01-01

    Since the 1990's, when the Class I Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) chlorofluorocarbon-113 (CFC-113) was banned, NASA's rocket propulsion test facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Stennis Space Center (SSC) have relied upon hydrochlorofluorocarbon-225 (HCFC-225) to safely clean and verify the cleanliness of large scale propulsion oxygen systems. Effective January 1, 2015, the production, import, export, and new use of HCFC-225, a Class II ODS, was prohibited by the Clean Air Act. In 2012 through 2014, leveraging resources from both the NASA Rocket Propulsion Test Program and the Defense Logistics Agency - Aviation Hazardous Minimization and Green Products Branch, test labs at MSFC, SSC, and Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) collaborated to seek out, test, and qualify a replacement for HCFC-225 that is both an effective cleaner and safe for use with oxygen systems. Candidate solvents were selected and a test plan was developed following the guidelines of ASTM G127, Standard Guide for the Selection of Cleaning Agents for Oxygen Systems. Solvents were evaluated for materials compatibility, oxygen compatibility, cleaning effectiveness, and suitability for use in cleanliness verification and field cleaning operations. Two solvents were determined to be acceptable for cleaning oxygen systems and one was chosen for implementation at NASA's rocket propulsion test facilities. The test program and results are summarized. This project also demonstrated the benefits of cross-agency collaboration in a time of limited resources.

  6. 75 FR 28821 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-24

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-060)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., EDST. ADDRESSES: NASA... Space Administration, Washington, DC 20546. Phone 202- 358-1686, fax: 202-358-3878, [email protected]nasa...

  7. European astronaut training in Houston.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiarenza, O

    1993-11-01

    Three European astronauts are currently training as Space Shuttle Mission Specialists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Two of the astronauts, Maurizio Cheli and Jean-Francois Clervoy, recently became members of NASA's 'astronaut pool' and have entered the Advanced Training phase. The third one, Claude Nicollier, is now preparing for the mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December.

  8. Second AIAA/NASA USAF Symposium on Automation, Robotics and Advanced Computing for the National Space Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Dale

    1987-01-01

    An introduction is given to NASA goals in the development of automation (expert systems) and robotics technologies in the Space Station program. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been identified as a means to lowering ground support costs. Telerobotics will enhance space assembly, servicing and repair capabilities, and will be used for an estimated half of the necessary EVA tasks. The general principles guiding NASA in the design, development, ground-testing, interactions with industry and construction of the Space Station component systems are summarized. The telerobotics program has progressed to a point where a telerobot servicer is a firm component of the first Space Station element launch, to support assembly, maintenance and servicing of the Station. The University of Wisconsin has been selected for the establishment of a Center for the Commercial Development of Space, specializing in space automation and robotics.

  9. NASA Earth-to-Orbit Engineering Design Challenges: Thermal Protection Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2010

    2010-01-01

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center, Dryden Flight Research Center, and their partners at other NASA centers and in private industry are currently developing X-33, a prototype to test technologies for the next generation of space transportation. This single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch…

  10. Looking Back at 25 Years With NASA's EOSDIS Distributed Active Archive Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behnke, J.; Kittel, D.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's. The data collected by NASA's remote sensing instruments represent a significant public investment in research. EOSDIS provides free and open access to this data to a worldwide public research community. EOSDIS manages a wide range of Earth science discipline data that include cryosphere, land cover change, polar processes, field campaigns, ocean surface, digital elevation, atmosphere dynamics and composition, and inter-disciplinary research, among many others. From the very beginning, EOSDIS was conceived as a system built on partnerships between NASA Centers, US agencies and academia. As originally conceived, the EOSDIS comprised of organizations to process and disseminate remote sensing and in situ data and provide services to a wide variety of users. These organizations are known as the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). Because of their active role in NASA mission science and with the science community, the DAACs represent a distinct departure from the run-of-the-mill data center. The purpose of this paper is to highlight this distinction and to describe the experiences, strategies, and lessons learned from the operation of the DAACs. Today, there are 12 DAACs geographically distributed across the US that serve over 3 million users and distributed over 1.5 billion Earth science data products. Managed by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at Goddard Space Flight Center, the DAACs each support different Earth science disciplines allowing for the customized support to user communities. The ESDIS Project provides the infrastructure support for the entire EOSDIS system, which has grown to 23 petabytes. The DAACs have improved performance as they have grown over the years, while costs are tightly controlled. We have several recommendations about curation, level of service

  11. Water Treatment Technologies Inspire Healthy Beverages

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Mike Johnson, a former technician at Johnson Space Center, drew on his expertise as a wastewater engineer to create a line of kombucha-based probiotic drinks. Unpeeled Inc., based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, employs 12 people and has sold more than 6 million units of its NASA-inspired beverage.

  12. Kennedy Space Center Spaceport Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wary, Samantha A.

    2013-01-01

    Until the Shuttle Atlantis' final landing on July 21, 2011, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) served as NASA's main spaceport, which is a launch and landing facility for rockets and spacecraft that are attempting to enter orbit. Many of the facilities at KSC were created to assist the Shuttle Program. One of the most important and used facilities is the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), This was the main landing area for the return of the shuttle after her mission in space. · However, the SLF has also been used for a number of other projects including straight-line testing by Gibbs Racing, weather data collection by NOAA, and an airfield for the KSC helicopters. This runway is three miles long with control tower at midfield and a fire department located at the end in care of an emergency. This facility, which was part of the great space race, will continue to be used for historical events as Kennedy begins to commercialize its facilities. KSC continues to be an important spaceport to the government, and it will transform into an important spaceport for the commercial industry as well. During my internship at KSC's Center Planning and Development Directorate, I had the opportunity to be a part of the negotiation team working on the agreement for Space Florida to control the Shuttle Landing Facility. This gave me the opportunity to learn about all the changes that are occurring here at Kennedy Space Center. Through various meetings, I discovered the Master Plan and its focus is to transform the existing facilities that were primarily used for the Shuttle Program, to support government operations and commercial flights in the future. This. idea is also in a new strategic business plan and completion of a space industry market analysis. All of these different documentations were brought to my attention and I. saw how they came together in the discussions of transitioning the SLF to a commercial operator, Space Florida. After attending meetings and partaking in discussions for

  13. Z-2 Space Suit: A Case Study in Human Spaceflight Public Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFarland, Shane M.

    2016-01-01

    NASA Johnson Space Center's Z-series of planetary space suit prototypes is an iterative development platform with a Mars-forward design philosophy, targeting a Mars surface mission in the mid-2030s. The first space suit assembly, called the Z-1, was delivered in 2012. While meeting the project's stated requirements and objectives, the general public's reception primarily focused on the color scheme, which vaguely invoked similarity to a certain animated cartoon character. The public at large has and continues to be exposed to varying space suit design aesthetics from popular culture and low TRL technology maturation efforts such as mechanical counterpressure. The lesson learned was that while the design aesthetic is not important from an engineering perspective, the perception of the public is important for NASA and human spaceflight in general. For the Z-2 space suit, an integrated public outreach strategy was employed to engage, excite and educate the public on the current technology of space suits and NASA's plans moving forward. The keystone of this strategy was a public vote on three different suit cover layer aesthetics, the winner of which would be used as inspiration in fabrication. Other components included social media, university collaboration, and select media appearances, the cumulative result of which, while intangible in its benefit, was ultimately a positive effect in terms of the image of NASA as well as the dissemination of information vital to dispelling public misconceptions.

  14. NASA University Research Centers Technical Advances in Aeronautics, Space Sciences and Technology, Earth Systems Sciences, Global Hydrology, and Education. Volumes 2 and 3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, Tommy L. (Editor); White, Bettie (Editor); Goodman, Steven (Editor); Sakimoto, P. (Editor); Randolph, Lynwood (Editor); Rickman, Doug (Editor)

    1998-01-01

    This volume chronicles the proceedings of the 1998 NASA University Research Centers Technical Conference (URC-TC '98), held on February 22-25, 1998, in Huntsville, Alabama. The University Research Centers (URCS) are multidisciplinary research units established by NASA at 11 Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU's) and 3 Other Minority Universities (OMU's) to conduct research work in areas of interest to NASA. The URC Technical Conferences bring together the faculty members and students from the URC's with representatives from other universities, NASA, and the aerospace industry to discuss recent advances in their fields.

  15. Recent Efforts in Advanced High Frequency Communications at the Glenn Research Center in Support of NASA Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda, Felix A.

    2015-01-01

    This presentation will discuss research and technology development work at the NASA Glenn Research Center in advanced frequency communications in support of NASAs mission. An overview of the work conducted in-house and also in collaboration with academia, industry, and other government agencies (OGA) in areas such as antenna technology, power amplifiers, radio frequency (RF) wave propagation through Earths atmosphere, ultra-sensitive receivers, among others, will be presented. In addition, the role of these and other related RF technologies in enabling the NASA next generation space communications architecture will be also discussed.

  16. Assessment of Technology Readiness Level of a Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA) for use on International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdoch, Karen; Smith, Fred; Perry, Jay; Green, Steve

    2004-01-01

    When technologies are traded for incorporation into vehicle systems to support a specific mission scenario, they are often assessed in terms of Technology Readiness Level (TRL). TRL is based on three major categories of Core Technology Components, Ancillary Hardware and System Maturity, and Control and Control Integration. This paper describes the Technology Readiness Level assessment of the Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA) for use on the International Space Station. A team comprising of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Southwest Research Institute and Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International have been working on various aspects of the CRA to bring its TRL from 4/5 up to 6. This paper describes the work currently being done in the three major categories. Specific details are given on technology development of the Core Technology Components including the reactor, phase separator and CO2 compressor.

  17. Command and Control of Space Assets Through Internet-Based Technologies Demonstrated

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foltz, David A.

    2002-01-01

    experiment. A second Internet connection at the demonstration area was implemented to provide Internet connectivity to a group of workstations to serve as platforms for controlling the simulated space experiment. Installation of this Internet connection was coordinated with an Internet service provider (ISP) and local NASA Johnson Space Center personnel. Not only did this TCP/IP-based architecture prove that a principal investigator on the Internet can securely command and control on-orbit assets, it also demonstrated that valuable virtual testing of planned on-orbit activities can be conducted over the Internet prior to actual deployment in space.

  18. ONAV - An Expert System for the Space Shuttle Mission Control Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mills, Malise; Wang, Lui

    1992-01-01

    The ONAV (Onboard Navigation) Expert System is being developed as a real-time console assistant to the ONAV flight controller for use in the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center. Currently, Oct. 1991, the entry and ascent systems have been certified for use on console as support tools, and were used for STS-48. The rendezvous system is in verification with the goal to have the system certified for STS-49, Intelsat retrieval. To arrive at this stage, from a prototype to real-world application, the ONAV project has had to deal with not only Al issues but operating environment issues. The Al issues included the maturity of Al languages and the debugging tools, verification, and availability, stability and size of the expert pool. The environmental issues included real time data acquisition, hardware suitability, and how to achieve acceptance by users and management.

  19. Integrated water management system - Description and test results. [for Space Station waste water processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elden, N. C.; Winkler, H. E.; Price, D. F.; Reysa, R. P.

    1983-01-01

    Water recovery subsystems are being tested at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for Space Station use to process waste water generated from urine and wash water collection facilities. These subsystems are being integrated into a water management system that will incorporate wash water and urine processing through the use of hyperfiltration and vapor compression distillation subsystems. Other hardware in the water management system includes a whole body shower, a clothes washing facility, a urine collection and pretreatment unit, a recovered water post-treatment system, and a water quality monitor. This paper describes the integrated test configuration, pertinent performance data, and feasibility and design compatibility conclusions of the integrated water management system.

  20. Assessment of Ocean Wave Model used to Analyze the Constellation Program (CxP) Orion Project Crew Module Water Landing Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Bryan K.; Bouchard, Richard; Teng, Chung-Chu; Dyson, Rodger; Jenson, Robert; OReilly, William; Rogers, Erick; Wang, David; Volovoi, Vitali

    2009-01-01

    Mr. Christopher Johnson, NASA's Systems Manager for the Orion Project Crew Module (CM) Landing and Recovery at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Mr. James Corliss, Project Engineer for the Orion CM Landing System Advanced Development Project at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) requested an independent assessment of the wave model that was developed to analyze the CM water landing conditions. A NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) initial evaluation was approved November 20, 2008. Mr. Bryan Smith, NESC Chief Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), was selected to lead this assessment. The Assessment Plan was presented and approved by the NESC Review Board (NRB) on December 18, 2008. The Assessment Report was presented to the NRB on March 12, 2009. This document is the final Assessment Report.

  1. NASA/BAE SYSTEMS SpaceWire Effort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakow, Glenn Parker; Schnurr, Richard G.; Kapcio, Paul

    2003-01-01

    This paper discusses the state of the NASA and BAE SYSTEMS developments of SpaceWire. NASA has developed intellectual property that implements SpaceWire in Register Transfer Level (RTL) VHDL for a SpaceWire link and router. This design has been extensively verified using directed tests from the SpaceWire Standard and design specification, as well as being randomly tested to flush out hard to find bugs in the code. The high level features of the design will be discussed, including the support for multiple time code masters, which will be useful for the James Webb Space Telescope electrical architecture. This design is now ready to be targeted to FPGA's and ASICs. Target utilization and performance information will be presented for Spaceflight worthy FPGA's and a discussion of the ASIC implementations will be addressed. In particular, the BAE SYSTEMS ASIC will be highlighted which will be implemented on their .25micron rad-hard line. The chip will implement a 4-port router with the ability to tie chips together to make larger routers without external glue logic. This part will have integrated LVDS drivers/receivers, include a PLL and include skew control logic. It will be targeted to run at greater than 300 MHz and include the implementation for the proposed SpaceWire transport layer. The need to provide a reliable transport mechanism for SpaceWire has been identified by both NASA And ESA, who are attempting to define a transport layer standard that utilizes a low overhead, low latency connection oriented approach that works end-to-end. This layer needs to be implemented in hardware to prevent bottlenecks.

  2. The Impact of Space Commercialization on Space Agencies: the Case of NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zervos, Vasilis

    2002-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that commercialisation of space results in inefficient contracting policies by the space agencies, using the US NASA as a case study. Though commercialisation is seen by many as a way to reduce costs in space programmes, as the space industry is seen as a decreasing costs industry, this is not a problem-free process. Commercialisation of space has affected the US and European space industries and policies in two major ways. The first is that the public sector actively encourages mergers and acquisitions of major contractors, confined, however, within the geographical borders of the US and Europe. This follows largely from the perceived benefits of economies of size when competing in global commercial markets. The second is the formation of an increasing number of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in space programmes and a more `cosy' relationship between the two within a public-assistance strategic trade theoretic framework. As ESA's contracting policy of `juste retour' is marked by limited competition, the paper focuses on the case of NASA, which is expected to be more pro- competitive, to examine the impact of commercialisation. With the use of quantitative methods based on time series econometric analysis, the paper shows that NASA's contracting policy, results in increasingly less competition and more rent-favouring contracting. This is attributed to the decreasing number of major contractors in conjunction with the preferential treatment of the domestic space industry (`Buy American'). The results of the paper verify that the support of the domestic space industry in commercial and public space markets results in inefficient contracting policies, with NASA facing the conflicting tasks of a stated policy of enhancing competition and efficiency in contracting, as well as, supporting the competitiveness of the domestic space industry. The paper concludes with an analysis and assessment of solutions to this

  3. Spacesuit Materials Add Comfort to Undergarments

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Phase change materials (PCMs) were one of the technologies NASA used to help astronauts maintain a "just right" temperature in their space gloves. To incorporate PCMs in spacesuit fabrics, Johnson Space Center collaborated with Outlast Technologies Inc. In 2011, Jockey International, headquartered in Kenosha, Wisconsin, released a line of men's and women's undergarments incorporating the NASA technology

  4. Marshall Space Flight Center Faculty Fellowship Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Six, N. F.; Karr, G.

    2017-01-01

    The research projects conducted by the 2016 Faculty Fellows at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center included propulsion studies on propellant issues, and materials investigations involving plasma effects and friction stir welding. Spacecraft Systems research was conducted on wireless systems and 3D printing of avionics. Vehicle Systems studies were performed on controllers and spacecraft instruments. The Science and Technology group investigated additive construction applied to Mars and Lunar regolith, medical uses of 3D printing, and unique instrumentation, while the Test Laboratory measured pressure vessel leakage and crack growth rates.

  5. Challenges of Integrating NASA's Space Communications Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinert, Jessica; Barnes, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    The transition to new technology, innovative ideas, and resistance to change is something that every industry experiences. Recent examples of this shift are changing to using robots in the assembly line construction of automobiles or the increasing use of robotics for medical procedures. Most often this is done with cost-reduction in mind, though ease of use for the customer is also a driver. All industries experience the push to increase efficiency of their systems; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the commercial space industry are no different. NASA space communication services are provided by three separately designed, developed, maintained, and operated communications networks known as the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN). The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program is pursuing integration of these networks and has performed a variety of architecture trade studies to determine what integration options would be the most effective in achieving a unified user mission support organization, and increase the use of common operational equipment and processes. The integration of multiple, legacy organizations and existing systems has challenges ranging from technical to cultural. The existing networks are the progeny of the very first communication and tracking capabilities implemented by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) more than 50 years ago and have been customized to the needs of their respective user mission base. The technical challenges to integrating the networks are many, though not impossible to overcome. The three distinct networks provide the same types of services, with customizable data rates, bandwidth, frequencies, and so forth. The differences across the networks have occurred in effort to satisfy their user missions' needs. Each new requirement has made the networks more unique and harder to integrate. The cultural challenges, however, have proven to be a

  6. Challenges of Integrating NASAs Space Communication Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinert, Jessica M.; Barnes, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    The transition to new technology, innovative ideas, and resistance to change is something that every industry experiences. Recent examples of this shift are changing to using robots in the assembly line construction of automobiles or the increasing use of robotics for medical procedures. Most often this is done with cost-reduction in mind, though ease of use for the customer is also a driver. All industries experience the push to increase efficiency of their systems; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the commercial space industry are no different. NASA space communication services are provided by three separately designed, developed, maintained, and operated communications networks known as the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN). The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program is pursuing integration of these networks and has performed a variety of architecture trade studies to determine what integration options would be the most effective in achieving a unified user mission support organization, and increase the use of common operational equipment and processes. The integration of multiple, legacy organizations and existing systems has challenges ranging from technical to cultural. The existing networks are the progeny of the very first communication and tracking capabilities implemented by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) more than 50 years ago and have been customized to the needs of their respective user mission base. The technical challenges to integrating the networks are many, though not impossible to overcome. The three distinct networks provide the same types of services, with customizable data rates, bandwidth, frequencies, and so forth. The differences across the networks have occurred in effort to satisfy their user missions' needs. Each new requirement has made the networks more unique and harder to integrate. The cultural challenges, however, have proven to be a

  7. Space Station Freedom (SSF) Data Management System (DMS) performance model data base

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stovall, John R.

    1993-01-01

    The purpose of this document was originally to be a working document summarizing Space Station Freedom (SSF) Data Management System (DMS) hardware and software design, configuration, performance and estimated loading data from a myriad of source documents such that the parameters provided could be used to build a dynamic performance model of the DMS. The document is published at this time as a close-out of the DMS performance modeling effort resulting from the Clinton Administration mandated Space Station Redesign. The DMS as documented in this report is no longer a part of the redesigned Space Station. The performance modeling effort was a joint undertaking between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) Flight Data Systems Division (FDSD) and the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Spacecraft Data Systems Research Branch. The scope of this document is limited to the DMS core network through the Man Tended Configuration (MTC) as it existed prior to the 1993 Clinton Administration mandated Space Station Redesign. Data is provided for the Standard Data Processors (SDP's), Multiplexer/Demultiplexers (MDM's) and Mass Storage Units (MSU's). Planned future releases would have added the additional hardware and software descriptions needed to describe the complete DMS. Performance and loading data through the Permanent Manned Configuration (PMC) was to have been included as it became available. No future releases of this document are presently planned pending completion of the present Space Station Redesign activities and task reassessment.

  8. Compendium of Current Total Ionizing Dose and Displacement Damage Results from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Selected NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topper, Alyson D.; Campola, Michael J.; Chen, Dakai; Casey, Megan C.; Yau, Ka-Yen; Cochran, Donna J.; LaBel, Kenneth A.; Ladbury, Raymond L.; Lauenstein, Jean-Marie; Mondy, Timothy K.; hide

    2017-01-01

    Total ionizing dose and displacement damage testing was performed to characterize and determine the suitability of candidate electronics for NASA space utilization. Devices tested include optoelectronics, digital, analog, linear bipolar devices, and hybrid devices.

  9. EVA Development and Verification Testing at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jairala, Juniper C.; Durkin, Robert; Marak, Ralph J.; Sipila, Stepahnie A.; Ney, Zane A.; Parazynski, Scott E.; Thomason, Arthur H.

    2012-01-01

    As an early step in the preparation for future Extravehicular Activities (EVAs), astronauts perform neutral buoyancy testing to develop and verify EVA hardware and operations. Neutral buoyancy demonstrations at NASA Johnson Space Center's Sonny Carter Training Facility to date have primarily evaluated assembly and maintenance tasks associated with several elements of the International Space Station (ISS). With the retirement of the Shuttle, completion of ISS assembly, and introduction of commercial players for human transportation to space, evaluations at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) will take on a new focus. Test objectives are selected for their criticality, lack of previous testing, or design changes that justify retesting. Assembly tasks investigated are performed using procedures developed by the flight hardware providers and the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD). Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) maintenance tasks are performed using a more systematic set of procedures, EVA Concept of Operations for the International Space Station (JSC-33408), also developed by the MOD. This paper describes the requirements and process for performing a neutral buoyancy test, including typical hardware and support equipment requirements, personnel and administrative resource requirements, examples of ISS systems and operations that are evaluated, and typical operational objectives that are evaluated.

  10. Recent Efforts in Communications Research and Technology at the Glenn Research Center in Support of NASA's Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda, Felix A.

    2015-01-01

    As it has done in the past, NASA is currently engaged in furthering the frontiers of space and planetary exploration. The effectiveness in gathering the desired science data in the amount and quality required to perform this pioneering work relies heavily on the communications capabilities of the spacecraft and space platforms being considered to enable future missions. Accordingly, the continuous improvement and development of radiofrequency and optical communications systems are fundamental to prevent communications to become the limiting factor for space explorations. This presentation will discuss some of the research and technology development efforts currently underway at the NASA Glenn Research Center in the radio frequency (RF) and Optical Communications. Examples of work conducted in-house and also in collaboration with academia, industry, and other government agencies (OGA) in areas such as antenna technology, power amplifiers, radio frequency (RF) wave propagation through Earths atmosphere, ultra-sensitive receivers, thin films ferroelectric-based tunable components, among others, will be presented. In addition, the role of these and other related RF technologies in enabling the NASA next generation space communications architecture will be also discussed.

  11. 77 FR 38093 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-26

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-046] NASA Advisory Council; Science... Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Science Committee of the NASA Advisory.... to 2:30 p.m., local time. ADDRESSES: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Building 1, Room E100E...

  12. The 2015-2016 SEPMAP Program at NASA JSC: Science, Engineering, and Program Management Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, L.; Archer, D.; Bakalyar, J.; Berger, E.; Blome, E.; Brown, R.; Cox, S.; Curiel, P.; Eid, R.; Eppler, D.; hide

    2017-01-01

    The Systems Engineering Project Management Advancement Program (SEPMAP) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is an employee development program designed to provide graduate level training in project management and systems engineering. The program includes an applied learning project with engineering and integrated science goals requirements. The teams were presented with a task: Collect a representative sample set from a field site using a hexacopter platform, as if performing a scientific reconnaissance to assess whether the site is of sufficient scientific interest to justify exploration by astronauts. Four teams worked through the eighteen-month course to design customized sampling payloads integrated with the hexacopter, and then operate the aircraft to meet sampling requirements of number (= 5) and mass (= 5g each). The "Mars Yard" at JSC was utilized for this purpose. This project activity closely parallels NASA plans for the future exploration of Mars, where remote sites will be reconnoitered ahead of crewed exploration.

  13. 75 FR 39974 - NASA Advisory Council; Space Operations Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-13

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-074)] NASA Advisory Council; Space... Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 2-5 p.m. EDT. ADDRESSES: Doubletree..., Washington, DC 20546, 202/358-1507, [email protected]nasa.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The agenda for the...

  14. Technical Challenges and Opportunities of Centralizing Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ido, Haisam; Burns, Rich

    2015-01-01

    The NASA Goddard Space Science Mission Operations project (SSMO) is performing a technical cost-benefit analysis for centralizing and consolidating operations of a diverse set of missions into a unified and integrated technical infrastructure. The presentation will focus on the notion of normalizing spacecraft operations processes, workflows, and tools. It will also show the processes of creating a standardized open architecture, creating common security models and implementations, interfaces, services, automations, notifications, alerts, logging, publish, subscribe and middleware capabilities. The presentation will also discuss how to leverage traditional capabilities, along with virtualization, cloud computing services, control groups and containers, and possibly Big Data concepts.

  15. Space Solar Power Satellite Technology Development at the Glenn Research Center: An Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudenhoefer, James E.; George, Patrick J.

    2000-01-01

    NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). is participating in the Space Solar Power Exploratory Research and Technology program (SERT) for the development of a solar power satellite concept. The aim of the program is to provide electrical power to Earth by converting the Sun's energy and beaming it to the surface. This paper will give an overall view of the technologies being pursued at GRC including thin film photovoltaics, solar dynamic power systems, space environmental effects, power management and distribution, and electric propulsion. The developmental path not only provides solutions to gigawatt sized space power systems for the future, but provides synergistic opportunities for contemporary space power architectures. More details of Space Solar Power can be found by reading the references sited in this paper and by connecting to the web site http://moonbase.msfc.nasa.gov/ and accessing the "Space Solar Power" section "Public Access" area.

  16. Test Program for Stirling Radioisotope Generator Hardware at NASA Glenn Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowski, Edward J.; Bolotin, Gary S.; Oriti, Salvatore M.

    2015-01-01

    Stirling-based energy conversion technology has demonstrated the potential of high efficiency and low mass power systems for future space missions. This capability is beneficial, if not essential, to making certain deep space missions possible. Significant progress was made developing the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), a 140-W radioisotope power system. A variety of flight-like hardware, including Stirling convertors, controllers, and housings, was designed and built under the ASRG flight development project. To support future Stirling-based power system development NASA has proposals that, if funded, will allow this hardware to go on test at the NASA Glenn Research Center. While future flight hardware may not be identical to the hardware developed under the ASRG flight development project, many components will likely be similar, and system architectures may have heritage to ASRG. Thus, the importance of testing the ASRG hardware to the development of future Stirling-based power systems cannot be understated. This proposed testing will include performance testing, extended operation to establish an extensive reliability database, and characterization testing to quantify subsystem and system performance and better understand system interfaces. This paper details this proposed test program for Stirling radioisotope generator hardware at NASA Glenn. It explains the rationale behind the proposed tests and how these tests will meet the stated objectives.

  17. 78 FR 41804 - NASA Advisory Council; Meeting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-11

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (13-077)] NASA Advisory Council; Meeting... Space Administration announces a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). DATES: Wednesday, July 31... ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, Room 9H40, Program Review Center, 300 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20456 FOR...

  18. 75 FR 5630 - NASA Advisory Council; Space Operations Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-03

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-017)] NASA Advisory Council; Space... Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. EST. ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20456, Room 2U22. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT...

  19. Compendium of Current Total Ionizing Dose and Displacement Damage Results from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topper, Alyson D.; Campola, Michael J.; Chen, Dakai; Casey, Megan C.; Yau, Ka-Yen; Cochran, Donna J.; Label, Kenneth A.; Ladbury, Raymond L.; Mondy, Timothy K.; O'Bryan, Martha V.; hide

    2017-01-01

    Total ionizing dose and displacement damage testing was performed to characterize and determine the suitability of candidate electronics for NASA space utilization. Devices tested include optoelectronics, digital, analog, linear bipolar devices, and hybrid devices. Displacement Damage, Optoelectronics, Proton Damage, Single Event Effects, and Total Ionizing Dose.

  20. Application of Molecular Adsorber Coatings in Chamber A for the James Webb Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abraham, Nithin S.

    2017-01-01

    As a coating made of highly porous zeolite materials, the Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) was developed to capture outgassed molecular contaminants, such as hydrocarbons and silicones. For spaceflight applications, the adsorptive capabilities of the coating can alleviate on-orbit outgassing concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft. Similarly, this sprayable paint technology has proven to be significantly beneficial for ground-based space applications, in particular, for vacuum chamber environments. This presentation describes the application of the MAC technology for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The coating was used as a mitigation tool to entrap outgassed contaminants, specifically silicone-based diffusion pump oil, from within JSCs cryogenic optical vacuum chamber test facility called Chamber A. This presentation summarizes the background, fabrication, installation, chemical analysis test results, and future plans for the MAC technology, which was effectively used to protect the JWST test equipment from vacuum chamber contamination. As a coating made of highly porous zeolite materials, the Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) was developed to capture outgassed molecular contaminants, such as hydrocarbons and silicones. For spaceflight applications, the adsorptive capabilities of the coating can alleviate on-orbit outgassing concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft. Similarly, this sprayable paint technology has proven to be significantly beneficial for ground-based space applications, in particular, for vacuum chamber environments. This presentation describes the application of the MAC technology for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The coating was used as a mitigation tool to entrap outgassed contaminants, specifically silicone-based diffusion pump oil, from within JSCs cryogenic optical vacuum chamber test

  1. NASA Space Science Resource Catalog

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teays, T.

    2000-05-01

    The NASA Office of Space Science Resource Catalog provides a convenient online interface for finding space science products for use in classrooms, science museums, planetariums, and many other venues. Goals in developing this catalog are: (1) create a cataloging system for all NASA OSS education products, (2) develop a system for characterizing education products which is meaningful to a large clientele, (3) develop a mechanism for evaluating products, (4) provide a user-friendly interface to search and access the data, and (5) provide standardized metadata and interfaces to other cataloging and library systems. The first version of the catalog is being tested at the spring 2000 conventions of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and will be released in summer 2000. The catalog may be viewed at the Origins Education Forum booth.

  2. A Simulation Base Investigation of High Latency Space Systems Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zu Qun; Crues, Edwin Z.; Bielski, Paul; Moore, Michael

    2017-01-01

    NASA's human space program has developed considerable experience with near Earth space operations. Although NASA has experience with deep space robotic missions, NASA has little substantive experience with human deep space operations. Even in the Apollo program, the missions lasted only a few weeks and the communication latencies were on the order of seconds. Human missions beyond the relatively close confines of the Earth-Moon system will involve missions with durations measured in months and communications latencies measured in minutes. To minimize crew risk and to maximize mission success, NASA needs to develop a better understanding of the implications of these types of mission durations and communication latencies on vehicle design, mission design and flight controller interaction with the crew. To begin to address these needs, NASA performed a study using a physics-based subsystem simulation to investigate the interactions between spacecraft crew and a ground-based mission control center for vehicle subsystem operations across long communication delays. The simulation, built with a subsystem modeling tool developed at NASA's Johnson Space Center, models the life support system of a Mars transit vehicle. The simulation contains models of the cabin atmosphere and pressure control system, electrical power system, drinking and waste water systems, internal and external thermal control systems, and crew metabolic functions. The simulation has three interfaces: 1) a real-time crew interface that can be use to monitor and control the vehicle subsystems; 2) a mission control center interface with data transport delays up to 15 minutes each way; 3) a real-time simulation test conductor interface that can be use to insert subsystem malfunctions and observe the interactions between the crew, ground, and simulated vehicle. The study was conducted at the 21st NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission between July 18th and Aug 3rd of year 2016. The NEEMO

  3. Dreams, Hopes, Realities: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the First Forty Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Lane E.

    1999-01-01

    Throughout history, the great achievements of civilizations and cultures have been recorded in lists of dates and events. But to look only at the machinery, discoveries, or milestones is to miss the value of these achievements. Each goal achieved or discovery or made represents a supreme effort on the part of individual people who came and worked together for a purpose greater than themselves. Driven by an innate curiosity of the spirit, we have built civilizations and discovered new worlds, always reaching out beyond what we knew or thought was possible. These efforts may have used ships or machinery, but the achievement was that of the humans who made those machines possible- remarkable people willing to endure discomfort, frustration, fatigue, and the risk of failure in the hope of finding out something new. This is the case with the history of the Goddard Space Flight Center. This publication traces the legacy of successes, risks, disappointments and internationally recognized triumphs of the Center's first 40 years. It is a story of technological achievement and scientific discovery; of reaching back to the dawn of time and opening up a new set of eyes on our own planet Earth. In the end, it is not a story about machinery or discoveries, but a story about ourselves. If we were able to step off our planet, and if we continue to discover new mysteries and better technology, it is because the people who work at Goddard always had a passion for exploration and the dedication to make it happen. The text that follows is a testimony to the challenges people at the Goddard Space Flight Center have faced and overcome over almost half a century. Today, we stand on the threshold of a new and equally challenging era. It will once again test our ingenuity, skills, and flexibility as we find new ways of working with our colleagues in industry, government, and academia. Doing more with less is every bit as ambitious as designing the first science instrument to study the

  4. Research and technology: 1994 annual report of the John F. Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    As the NASA Center responsible for assembly, checkout, servicing, launch, recovery, and operational support of Space Transportation System elements and payloads, the John F. Kennedy Space Center is placing increasing emphasis on its advanced technology development program. This program encompasses the efforts of the Engineering Development Directorate laboratories, most of the KSC operations contractors, academia, and selected commercial industries - all working in a team effort within their own areas of expertise. This edition of the Kennedy Space Center Research and Technology 1994 Annual Report covers efforts of all these contributors to the KSC advanced technology development program, as well as our technology transfer activities. The Technology Programs and Commercialization Office (DE-TPO), (407) 867-3017, is responsible for publication of this report and should be contacted for any desired information regarding the advanced technology program.

  5. Space Weather Forecasting and Research at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aronne, M.

    2015-12-01

    The Space Weather Research Center (SWRC), within the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), provides experimental research forecasts and analysis for NASA's robotic mission operators. Space weather conditions are monitored to provide advance warning and forecasts based on observations and modeling using the integrated Space Weather Analysis Network (iSWA). Space weather forecasters come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from modelers to astrophysicists to undergraduate students. This presentation will discuss space weather operations and research from an undergraduate perspective. The Space Weather Research, Education, and Development Initiative (SW REDI) is the starting point for many undergraduate opportunities in space weather forecasting and research. Space weather analyst interns play an active role year-round as entry-level space weather analysts. Students develop the technical and professional skills to forecast space weather through a summer internship that includes a two week long space weather boot camp, mentorship, poster session, and research opportunities. My unique development of research projects includes studying high speed stream events as well as a study of 20 historic, high-impact solar energetic particle events. This unique opportunity to combine daily real-time analysis with related research prepares students for future careers in Heliophysics.

  6. NASA Self-Assessment of Space Radiation Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cucinotta, Francis A.

    2010-01-01

    Space exploration involves unavoidable exposures to high-energy galactic cosmic rays whose penetration power and associated secondary radiation makes radiation shielding ineffective and cost prohibitive. NASA recognizing the possible health dangers from cosmic rays notified the U.S. Congress as early as 1959 of the need for a dedicated heavy ion accelerator to study the largely unknown biological effects of galactic cosmic rays on astronauts. Information and scientific tools to study radiation health effects expanded over the new decades as NASA exploration programs to the moon and preparations for Mars exploration were carried out. In the 1970 s through the early 1990 s a more than 3-fold increase over earlier estimates of fatal cancer risks from gamma-rays, and new knowledge of the biological dangers of high LET radiation were obtained. Other research has increased concern for degenerative risks to the central nervous system and other tissues at lower doses compared to earlier estimates. In 1996 a review by the National Academy of Sciences Space Science Board re-iterated the need for a dedicated ground-based accelerator facility capable of providing up to 2000 research hours per year to reduce uncertainties in risks projections and develop effective mitigation measures. In 1998 NASA appropriated funds for construction of a dedicated research facility and the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) opened for research in October of 2003. This year marks the 8th year of NSRL research were about 1000 research hours per year have been utilized. In anticipation of the approaching ten year milestone, funded investigators and selected others are invited to participate in a critical self-assessment of NSRL research progress towards NASA s goals in space radiation research. A Blue and Red Team Assessment format has been integrated into meeting posters and special plenary sessions to allow for a critical debate on the progress of the research and major gaps areas. Blue

  7. Creating Innovative Frameworks to Spur Cultural Change at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuel, Aamod; Lozano, Joel; Carte, Olivia; Robillos, Troy

    2018-01-01

    Changing the culture of an organization is a monumental task that often takes years and has no set formula. Steps can be taken, however, to spur cultural change by creating spaces and infrastructure to serve as the initial driving force. An innovation space and a bicycle sharing (bike share) program were implemented at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) (Edwards, California) with a vision toward connecting Center personnel, fostering collaboration and innovation, retaining newer employees, promoting flexibility, and improving the culture and workplace atmosphere. This paper discusses the steps taken, challenges faced, novel culture-change-focused design elements, lessons learned, acquired metrics, and how these initiated cultural change at AFRC. For both the innovation space and the bike share program, funding was negotiated and provided through the NASA Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project, which was seeking to improve the innovation and collaboration capabilities at each of the four NASA aeronautics Centers. Key stakeholders across AFRC from upper management, facilities, safety, engineering, and procurement were identified early in the process and were consulted and included throughout execution to ensure that any encountered roadblocks could be easily navigated. Research was then conducted by attending conferences and visiting culture-changing organizations both inside and outside United States Government agencies. Distilling the research, identifying available space, and deciding on specific design elements for the space was conducted by a subset of individuals of diverse backgrounds to enable quick, effective decision-making. Decisions were made with the intent to increase usage and diversity of users of the space; care was taken to ensure a well-crafted atmosphere that would foster the desired culture change. The allocated physical space required major structural modifications, new

  8. NASA Space Radiation Program Integrative Risk Model Toolkit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; Hu, Shaowen; Plante, Ianik; Ponomarev, Artem L.; Sandridge, Chris

    2015-01-01

    NASA Space Radiation Program Element scientists have been actively involved in development of an integrative risk models toolkit that includes models for acute radiation risk and organ dose projection (ARRBOD), NASA space radiation cancer risk projection (NSCR), hemocyte dose estimation (HemoDose), GCR event-based risk model code (GERMcode), and relativistic ion tracks (RITRACKS), NASA radiation track image (NASARTI), and the On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation in Space (OLTARIS). This session will introduce the components of the risk toolkit with opportunity for hands on demonstrations. The brief descriptions of each tools are: ARRBOD for Organ dose projection and acute radiation risk calculation from exposure to solar particle event; NSCR for Projection of cancer risk from exposure to space radiation; HemoDose for retrospective dose estimation by using multi-type blood cell counts; GERMcode for basic physical and biophysical properties for an ion beam, and biophysical and radiobiological properties for a beam transport to the target in the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory beam line; RITRACKS for simulation of heavy ion and delta-ray track structure, radiation chemistry, DNA structure and DNA damage at the molecular scale; NASARTI for modeling of the effects of space radiation on human cells and tissue by incorporating a physical model of tracks, cell nucleus, and DNA damage foci with image segmentation for the automated count; and OLTARIS, an integrated tool set utilizing HZETRN (High Charge and Energy Transport) intended to help scientists and engineers study the effects of space radiation on shielding materials, electronics, and biological systems.

  9. 76 FR 41824 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-15

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (11-068)] NASA Advisory Council; Science... Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Science Committee of the NASA Advisory..., 2011, 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Local Time. ADDRESSES: NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Ames Conference...

  10. Technology requirements to be addressed by the NASA Lewis Research Center Cryogenic Fluid Management Facility program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aydelott, J. C.; Rudland, R. S.

    1985-01-01

    The NASA Lewis Research Center is responsible for the planning and execution of a scientific program which will provide advance in space cryogenic fluid management technology. A number of future space missions were identified that require or could benefit from this technology. These fluid management technology needs were prioritized and a shuttle attached reuseable test bed, the cryogenic fluid management facility (CFMF), is being designed to provide the experimental data necessary for the technology development effort.

  11. Second Annual NASA Ames Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dotson, Jessie

    2014-01-01

    The Space Science and Astrobiology Division's researchers are pursuing investigations in a variety of fields, including exoplanets, planetary science, astrobiology, and astrophysics. In addition division personnel support a wide variety of NASA missions. With a wide variety of interesting research going on, distributed among the three branches in at least 5 buildings, it can be difficult to stay abreast of what one's fellow researchers are doing. Our goal in organizing this symposium is to facilitate communication and collaboration among the scientist within the division and to give center management and other ARC researchers and Engineers an opportunity to see what scientific missions work is being done in the division.

  12. Discovery: Under the Microscope at Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Philip M.

    2013-01-01

    The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) is known for discovery, exploration, and advancement of knowledge. Since the days of Leeuwenhoek, microscopy has been at the forefront of discovery and knowledge. No truer is that statement than today at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where microscopy plays a major role in contamination identification and is an integral part of failure analysis. Space exploration involves flight hardware undergoing rigorous "visually clean" inspections at every step of processing. The unknown contaminants that are discovered on these inspections can directly impact the mission by decreasing performance of sensors and scientific detectors on spacecraft and satellites, acting as micrometeorites, damaging critical sealing surfaces, and causing hazards to the crew of manned missions. This talk will discuss how microscopy has played a major role in all aspects of space port operations at KSC. Case studies will highlight years of analysis at the Materials Science Division including facility and payload contamination for the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging Global Positioning Satellites (NA VST AR GPS) missions, quality control monitoring of monomethyl hydrazine fuel procurement for launch vehicle operations, Shuttle Solids Rocket Booster (SRB) foam processing failure analysis, and Space Shuttle Main Engine Cut-off (ECO) flight sensor anomaly analysis. What I hope to share with my fellow microscopists is some of the excitement of microscopy and how its discoveries has led to hardware processing, that has helped enable the successful launch of vehicles and space flight missions here at Kennedy Space Center.

  13. Improving the Discoverability and Availability of Sample Data and Imagery in NASA's Astromaterials Curation Digital Repository Using a New Common Architecture for Sample Databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todd, N. S.; Evans, C.

    2015-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the designated facility for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. The suite of collections includes the lunar samples from the Apollo missions, cosmic dust particles falling into the Earth's atmosphere, meteorites collected in Antarctica, comet and interstellar dust particles from the Stardust mission, asteroid particles from the Japanese Hayabusa mission, and solar wind atoms collected during the Genesis mission. To support planetary science research on these samples, NASA's Astromaterials Curation Office hosts the Astromaterials Curation Digital Repository, which provides descriptions of the missions and collections, and critical information about each individual sample. Our office is implementing several informatics initiatives with the goal of better serving the planetary research community. One of these initiatives aims to increase the availability and discoverability of sample data and images through the use of a newly designed common architecture for Astromaterials Curation databases.

  14. 77 FR 38091 - NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Meeting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-26

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: 12-047] NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics... National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA..., July 24, 2012, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time. ADDRESSES: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC...

  15. Space Station Freedom - Configuration management approach to supporting concurrent engineering and total quality management. [for NASA Space Station Freedom Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gavert, Raymond B.

    1990-01-01

    Some experiences of NASA configuration management in providing concurrent engineering support to the Space Station Freedom program for the achievement of life cycle benefits and total quality are discussed. Three change decision experiences involving tracing requirements and automated information systems of the electrical power system are described. The potential benefits of concurrent engineering and total quality management include improved operational effectiveness, reduced logistics and support requirements, prevention of schedule slippages, and life cycle cost savings. It is shown how configuration management can influence the benefits attained through disciplined approaches and innovations that compel consideration of all the technical elements of engineering and quality factors that apply to the program development, transition to operations and in operations. Configuration management experiences involving the Space Station program's tiered management structure, the work package contractors, international partners, and the participating NASA centers are discussed.

  16. NASA preferred reliability-practices for design and test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lisk, Ronald C.

    1992-01-01

    NASA HQ established the NASA R&M Steering Committee (R&MSC) comprised of membership from each NASA field center. The primary charter of the R&MSC is to obtain, record, and share the best design practices that NASA has applied to successful space flight programs and current design considerations (guidelines) that should enhance flight reliability on emerging programs. The practices and guidelines are being assembled in a living document for distribution to NASA centers and the aerospace community. The document will be updated annually with additional practices and guidelines as contributions from the centers are reviewed and approved by the R&MSC. Practices and guidelines are not requirements, but rather a means of sharing procedures and techniques that a given center and the R&MSC together feel have strong technical merit and application to the design of space-related equipment.

  17. Partnering with Universities, a NASA Visitor Center, Schools, and the INSPIRE Project to Perform Research and Outreach Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, M.; Smith, J. A.; Kloostra, E.; Knupp, K. R.; Taylor, K.; Anderson, S.; Baskauf, C. J.; Buckner, S.; DiMatties, J.; Fry, C. D.; Gaither, B.; Galben, C. W.; Gallagher, D. L.; Heaston, M. P.; Kraft, J.; Meisch, K.; Mills, R.; Nations, C.; Nielson, D.; Oelgoetz, J.; Rawlins, L. P.; Sudbrink, D. L.; Wright, A.

    2017-12-01

    For the August 2017 eclipse, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center partnered with the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC), Austin Peay State University (APSU) in Clarksville, Tennessee, the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiments (INSPIRE) Project, and the local school systems of Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Christian County, Kentucky. Multiple site visits and workshops were carried out during the first eight months of 2017 to prepare local teachers and students for the eclipse. A special curriculum was developed to prepare USSRC Space Camp and INSPIRE students to observe and participate in science measurements during the eclipse. Representatives from Christian County school system and APSU carried out observations for the Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment in two separate locations. UAH and APSU as part of the Montana State Ballooning Project, launched balloons containing video cameras and other instruments. USSRC Space Camp students and counselors and INSPIRE students conducted science experiments that included the following: atmospheric science investigations of the atmospheric boundary layer, very-low frequency and Ham radio observations to investigate ionospheric responses to the eclipse, animal and insect observations, solar-coronal observations, eclipse shadow bands. We report on the results of all these investigations.

  18. 78 FR 29388 - Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive License

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-20

    ... practice the inventions described and claimed in USPN 8,338,114, Engineering Human Broncho- Epithelial... rights in these inventions have been assigned to the United States of America as represented by the..., NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Texas 77058, Mail Code AL; Phone (281) 483-3021...

  19. Statement of Aaron Cohen, Director, Research and Engineering, Johnson Space Center and Chairman, Space Station Advanced Technology Advisory Committee, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, before the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, A.

    1985-01-01

    The activities of NASA's Space Station Advanced Technology Advisory Committee is discussed. Advanced Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC) activities over the last year are reviewed in preparation of the report to Congress on the potential for advancing automation and robotics technology for the space station and for the U.S. economy.

  20. Drug Information in Space Medicine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayuse, Tina M.

    2009-01-01

    Published drug information is widely available for terrestrial conditions. However, information on dosing, administration, drug interactions, stability, and side effects is scant as it relates to use in Space Medicine. Multinational crews on board the International Space Station present additional challenges for drug information because medication nomenclature, information available for the drug as well as the intended use for the drug is not standard across countries. This presentation will look at unique needs for drug information and how the information is managed in Space Medicine. A review was conducted of the drug information requests submitted to the Johnson Space Center Pharmacy by Space Medicine practitioners, astronaut crewmembers and researchers. The information requested was defined and cataloged. A list of references used was maintained. The wide range of information was identified. Due to the information needs for the medications in the on-board medical kits, the Drug Monograph Project was created. A standard method for answering specific drug information questions was generated and maintained by the Johnson Space Center Pharmacy. The Drug Monograph Project will be presented. Topic-centered requests, including multinational drug information, drug-induced adverse reactions, and medication events due to the environment will be highlighted. Information management of the drug information will be explained. Future considerations for drug information needs will be outlined.

  1. Space Station view of the Pyramids at Giza

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-01-01

    One of the world's most famous archaeological sites has been photographed in amazing detail by the astronauts onboard Space Station Alpha. This image, taken 15 August, 2001, represents the greatest detail of the Giza plateau captured from a human-occupied spacecraft (approximate 7 m resolution). Afternoon sun casts shadows that help the eye make out the large pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Sets of three smaller queens' pyramids can be seen to the east of the Pyramid of Khufu and south of the Pyramid of Menkaure. The light-colored causeway stretching from the Mortuary Temple at the Pyramid of Khafre to the Valley Temple near the Sphinx (arrow) can also be seen. Because it is not tall enough to cast a deep shadow, the Sphinx itself cannot readily be distinguished. Although some commercial satellites, such as IKONOS, have imaged the Pyramids at Giza in greater detail (1 m resolution), this image highlights the potential of the International Space Station as a remote sensing platform. A commercial digital camera without space modifications was used to obtain this picture. Similarly, a variety of remote sensing instruments developed for use on aircraft can potentially be used from the Space Station. Currently, all photographs of Earth taken by astronauts from the Space Shuttle and Space Station are released to the public for scientific and educational benefit and can be accessed on the World Wide Web through the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth (http://eol/jsc.nasa.gov/sseop). Image ISS003-ESC-5120 was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov).

  2. Space Operations Learning Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lui, Ben; Milner, Barbara; Binebrink, Dan; Kuok, Heng

    2012-01-01

    The Space Operations Learning Center (SOLC) is a tool that provides an online learning environment where students can learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through a series of training modules. SOLC is also an effective media for NASA to showcase its contributions to the general public. SOLC is a Web-based environment with a learning platform for students to understand STEM through interactive modules in various engineering topics. SOLC is unique in its approach to develop learning materials to teach schoolaged students the basic concepts of space operations. SOLC utilizes the latest Web and software technologies to present this educational content in a fun and engaging way for all grade levels. SOLC uses animations, streaming video, cartoon characters, audio narration, interactive games and more to deliver educational concepts. The Web portal organizes all of these training modules in an easily accessible way for visitors worldwide. SOLC provides multiple training modules on various topics. At the time of this reporting, seven modules have been developed: Space Communication, Flight Dynamics, Information Processing, Mission Operations, Kids Zone 1, Kids Zone 2, and Save The Forest. For the first four modules, each contains three components: Flight Training, Flight License, and Fly It! Kids Zone 1 and 2 include a number of educational videos and games designed specifically for grades K-6. Save The Forest is a space operations mission with four simulations and activities to complete, optimized for new touch screen technology. The Kids Zone 1 module has recently been ported to Facebook to attract wider audience.

  3. NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffery R.

    2010-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the purpose, potential members and participants of the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC). Included in the overview is a brief description of the administration and current activities of the NHHPC.

  4. NASA's Space Launch System: A New Capability for Science and Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crumbly, Christopher M.; May, Todd A.; Robinson, Kimberly F.

    2014-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is directing efforts to build the Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and other high-priority payloads into deep space. Its evolvable architecture will allow NASA to begin with human missions beyond the Moon and then go on to transport astronauts or robots to distant places such as asteroids and Mars. Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability in mind, SLS will start with 10 percent more thrust than the Saturn V rocket that launched astronauts to the Moon 40 years ago. From there it will evolve into the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, via an upgrade approach that will provide building blocks for future space exploration. This paper will explain how NASA will execute this development within flat budgetary guidelines by using existing engines assets and heritage technology, from the initial 70 metric ton (t) lift capability through a block upgrade approach to an evolved 130-t capability, and will detail the progress that has already been made toward a first launch in 2017. This paper will also explore the requirements needed for human missions to deep-space destinations and for game-changing robotic science missions, and the capability of SLS to meet those requirements and enable those missions, along with the evolution strategy that will increase that capability. The International Space Exploration Coordination Group, representing 12 of the world's space agencies, has worked together to create the Global Exploration Roadmap, which outlines paths towards a human landing on Mars, beginning with capability-demonstrating missions to the Moon or an asteroid. The Roadmap and corresponding NASA research outline the requirements for reference missions for all three destinations. The SLS will offer a robust way to transport international crews and the air, water, food, and

  5. NASA Microgravity Materials Science Conference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillies, D. C. (Compiler); McCauley, D. E. (Compiler)

    1999-01-01

    The Microgravity Materials Science Conference was held July 14-16, 1998 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, AL. It was organized by the Microgravity Materials Science Discipline Working Group, sponsored by the Microgravity Research Division at NASA Headquarters, and hosted by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Alliance for Microgravity Materials Science and Applications. It was the third NASA conference of this type in the microgravity materials science discipline. The microgravity science program sponsored approximately 125 investigations and 100 principal investigators in FY98, almost all of whom made oral or poster presentations at this conference. The conference's purpose was to inform the materials science community of research opportunities in reduced gravity in preparation for a NASA Research Announcement scheduled for release in late 1998 by the Microgravity Research Division at NASA Headquarters. The conference was aimed at materials science researchers from academia, industry, and government. A tour of the Marshall Space Flight Center microgravity research facilities was held on July 16, 1998. This volume is comprised of the research reports submitted by the principal investigators after the conference.

  6. 78 FR 70963 - NASA Advisory Council; Human Exploration and Operations Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-27

    ....m. to 2:00 p.m., Local Time. ADDRESSES: NASA Kennedy Space Center, Headquarters Building, Room 2229... Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-2245, or [email protected] meeting at the NASA Kennedy Space Center must provide their full name, company affiliation (if applicable...

  7. Stirling Radioisotope Power System as an Alternative for NASAs Deep Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaltens, R. K.; Mason, L. S.; Schreiber, J. G.

    2001-01-01

    The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) are developing a free-piston Stirling convertor for a Stirling Radioisotope Power System (SRPS) to provide on-board electric power for future NASA deep space missions. The SRPS currently being developed provides about 100 watts and reduces the amount of radioisotope fuel by a factor of four over conventional Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG). The present SRPS design has a specific power of approximately 4 W/kg which is comparable to an RTG. GRC estimates for advanced versions of the SRPS with improved heat source integration, lightweight Stirling convertors, composite radiators, and chip-packaged controllers improves the specific mass to about 8 W/kg. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

  8. Space Internet Architectures and Technologies for NASA Enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhasin, Kul; Hayden, Jeffrey L.

    2001-01-01

    NASA's future communications services will be supplied through a space communications network that mirrors the terrestrial Internet in its capabilities and flexibility. The notional requirements for future data gathering and distribution by this Space Internet have been gathered from NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), the Human Exploration and Development in Space (HEDS), and the Space Science Enterprise (SSE). This paper describes a communications infrastructure for the Space Internet, the architectures within the infrastructure, and the elements that make up the architectures. The architectures meet the requirements of the enterprises beyond 2010 with Internet 'compatible technologies and functionality. The elements of an architecture include the backbone, access, inter-spacecraft and proximity communication parts. From the architectures, technologies have been identified which have the most impact and are critical for the implementation of the architectures.

  9. Innovative Educational Aerospace Research at the Northeast High School Space Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luyet, Audra; Matarazzo, Anthony; Folta, David

    1997-01-01

    Northeast High Magnet School of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a proud sponsor of the Space Research Center (SPARC). SPARC, a model program of the Medical, Engineering, and Aerospace Magnet school, provides talented students the capability to successfully exercise full simulations of NASA manned missions. These simulations included low-Earth Shuttle missions and Apollo lunar missions in the past, and will focus on a planetary mission to Mars this year. At the end of each scholastic year, a simulated mission, lasting between one and eight days, is performed involving 75 students as specialists in seven teams The groups are comprised of Flight Management, Spacecraft Communications (SatCom), Computer Networking, Spacecraft Design and Engineering, Electronics, Rocketry, Robotics, and Medical teams in either the mission operations center or onboard the spacecraft. Software development activities are also required in support of these simulations The objective of this paper is to present the accomplishments, technology innovations, interactions, and an overview of SPARC with an emphasis on how the program's educational activities parallel NASA mission support and how this education is preparing student for the space frontier.

  10. 78 FR 49296 - NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-13

    .... Greg Mann, Office of International and Interagency Relations, (202) 358-5140, NASA Headquarters... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 13-091] NASA International Space Station... meeting. SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended...

  11. Leadership in Space: Selected Speeches of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, May 2005 - October 2008

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffin, Michael

    2008-01-01

    Speech topics include: Leadership in Space; Space Exploration: Real and Acceptable Reasons; Why Explore Space?; Space Exploration: Filling up the Canvas; Continuing the Voyage: The Spirit of Endeavour; Incorporating Space into Our Economic Sphere of Influence; The Role of Space Exploration in the Global Economy; Partnership in Space Activities; International Space Cooperation; National Strategy and the Civil Space Program; What the Hubble Space Telescope Teaches Us about Ourselves; The Rocket Team; NASA's Direction; Science and NASA; Science Priorities and Program Management; NASA and the Commercial Space Industry; NASA and the Business of Space; American Competitiveness: NASA's Role & Everyone's Responsibility; Space Exploration: A Frontier for American Collaboration; The Next Generation of Engineers; System Engineering and the "Two Cultures" of Engineering; Generalship of Engineering; NASA and Engineering Integrity; The Constellation Architecture; Then and Now: Fifty Years in Space; The Reality of Tomorrow; and Human Space Exploration: The Next 50 Years.

  12. Designing astrophysics missions for NASA's Space Launch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.; Schnell, Andrew; Smith, David Alan; Jackman, Angela; Warfield, Keith R.

    2016-10-01

    Large space telescope missions have always been limited by their launch vehicle's mass and volume capacities. The Hubble Space Telescope was specifically designed to fit inside the Space Shuttle and the James Webb Space Telescope was specifically designed to fit inside an Ariane 5. Astrophysicists desire even larger space telescopes. NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-m Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultrahigh-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-m class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. NASA's "Planning for the 2020 Decadal Survey" calls for a Habitable Exoplanet Imaging (HabEx) and an LUVOIR as well as Far-IR and an X-ray Surveyor missions. Packaging larger space telescopes into existing launch vehicles is a significant engineering complexity challenge that drives cost and risk. NASA's planned Space Launch System (SLS), with its 8- or 10-m diameter fairings and ability to deliver 35 to 45 mt of payload to Sun-Earth-Lagrange-2, mitigates this challenge by fundamentally changing the design paradigm for large space telescopes. This paper introduces the mass and volume capacities of the planned SLS, provides a simple mass allocation recipe for designing large space telescope missions to this capacity, and gives three specific mission concept implementation examples: a 4-m monolithic off-axis telescope, an 8-m monolithic on-axis telescope, and a 12-m segmented on-axis telescope.

  13. Internal Social Media at Marshall Space Flight Center - An Engineer's Snapshot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, David W.

    2013-01-01

    In the brief span of about six years (2004-2010), social media radically enhanced people's ways of maintaining recreational friendships. Social media's impact on public affairs (PAO) and community engagement is equally striking: NASA has involved millions of non-NASA viewers in its activities via outward-facing social media, often in a very two-way street fashion. Use of social media as an internal working tool by NASA's tens of thousands of civil servants, onsite contractor employees, and external stakeholders is evolving more slowly. This paper examines, from an engineer's perspective, Marshall Space Flight Center s (MSFC) efforts to bring the power of social media to the daily working environment. Primary emphasis is on an internal Social Networking Service called Explornet that could be scaled Agency-wide. Other topics include MSFC use of other social media day-to-day for non-PAO purposes, some specialized uses of social techniques in space flight control operations, and how to help a community open up so it can discover and adopt what works well.

  14. Integrated Procurement Management System, Version II

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collier, L. J.

    1985-01-01

    Integrated Procurement Management System, Version II (IPMS II) is online/ batch system for collecting developing, managing and disseminating procurementrelated data at NASA Johnson Space Center. Portions of IPMS II adaptable to other procurement situations.

  15. 78 FR 57663 - Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive License

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-19

    ... the inventions described and claimed in USPN 6,485,963, Growth Stimulation of Biological Cells and... rights in these inventions have been assigned to the United States of America as represented by the..., NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Texas 77058, Mail Code AL; Phone (281) 483-3021...

  16. NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey R.

    2012-01-01

    In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate, issued the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration. In January 2012, leadership and key directorate personnel were once again brought together to assess the current and expected future environment against its 2007 Strategy and the Agency and Johnson Space Center goals and strategies. The result was a refined vision and mission, and revised goals, objectives, and strategies. One of the first changes implemented was to rename the directorate from Space Life Sciences to Human Health and Performance to better reflect our vision and mission. The most significant change in the directorate from 2007 to the present is the integration of the Human Research Program and Crew Health and Safety activities. Subsequently, the Human Health and Performance Directorate underwent a reorganization to achieve enhanced integration of research and development with operations to better support human spaceflight and International Space Station utilization. These changes also enable a more effective and efficient approach to human system risk mitigation. Since 2007, we have also made significant advances in external collaboration and implementation of new business models within the directorate and the Agency, and through two newly established virtual centers, the NASA Human Health and Performance Center and the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. Our 2012 Strategy builds upon these successes to address the Agency's increased emphasis on societal relevance and being a leader in research and development and innovative business and communications practices. The 2012 Human Health and Performance Vision is to lead the world in human health and performance innovations for life in space and on Earth. Our mission is to enable optimization of human health and performance throughout all phases of spaceflight. All HH&P functions are ultimately aimed at achieving this mission. Our activities enable

  17. NASA's Next Generation Space Geodesy Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merkowitz, S. M.; Desai, S. D.; Gross, R. S.; Hillard, L. M.; Lemoine, F. G.; Long, J. L.; Ma, C.; McGarry, J. F.; Murphy, D.; Noll, C. E.; hide

    2012-01-01

    Requirements for the ITRF have increased dramatically since the 1980s. The most stringent requirement comes from critical sea level monitoring programs: a global accuracy of 1.0 mm, and 0.1mm/yr stability, a factor of 10 to 20 beyond current capability. Other requirements for the ITRF coming from ice mass change, ground motion, and mass transport studies are similar. Current and future satellite missions will have ever-increasing measurement capability and will lead to increasingly sophisticated models of these and other changes in the Earth system. Ground space geodesy networks with enhanced measurement capability will be essential to meeting the ITRF requirements and properly interpreting the satellite data. These networks must be globally distributed and built for longevity, to provide the robust data necessary to generate improved models for proper interpretation of the observed geophysical signals. NASA has embarked on a Space Geodesy Program with a long-range goal to build, deploy and operate a next generation NASA Space Geodetic Network (SGN). The plan is to build integrated, multi-technique next-generation space geodetic observing systems as the core contribution to a global network designed to produce the higher quality data required to maintain the Terrestrial Reference Frame and provide information essential for fully realizing the measurement potential of the current and coming generation of Earth Observing spacecraft. Phase 1 of this project has been funded to (1) Establish and demonstrate a next-generation prototype integrated Space Geodetic Station at Goddard's Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory (GGAO), including next-generation SLR and VLBI systems along with modern GNSS and DORIS; (2) Complete ongoing Network Design Studies that describe the appropriate number and distribution of next-generation Space Geodetic Stations for an improved global network; (3) Upgrade analysis capability to handle the next-generation data; (4) Implement a modern

  18. NDAS NASA Data Acquisition Software Suite- Version 2.0

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Current NASA propulsion test facilities include Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, Plum Brook Station in Ohio, and White...

  19. 76 FR 16643 - NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-24

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (11-024)] NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics... Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory.... ADDRESSES: Thursday, April 14, 2011--NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), Lilly Drive Building 4825...

  20. 75 FR 41240 - NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-15

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-079)] NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics... Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory....m. to 4 p.m. (local time). ADDRESSES: NASA Glenn Research Center, Building 15, Small Dining...

  1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center presents Enhancing Standards Based Science Curriculum through NASA Content Relevancy: A Model for Sustainable Teaching-Research Integration Dr. Robert Gabrys, Raquel Marshall, Dr. Evelina Felicite-Maurice, Erin McKinley

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, R. H.; Gabrys, R.

    2016-12-01

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a systemic educator professional development model for the integration of NASA climate change resources into the K-12 classroom. The desired outcome of this model is to prepare teachers in STEM disciplines to be globally engaged and knowledgeable of current climate change research and its potential for content relevancy alignment to standard-based curriculum. The application and mapping of the model is based on the state education needs assessment, alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and implementation framework developed by the consortium of district superintendents and their science supervisors. In this presentation, we will demonstrate best practices for extending the concept of inquiry-based and project-based learning through the integration of current NASA climate change research into curriculum unit lessons. This model includes a significant teacher development component focused on capacity development for teacher instruction and pedagogy aimed at aligning NASA climate change research to related NGSS student performance expectations and subsequent Crosscutting Concepts, Science and Engineering Practices, and Disciplinary Core Ideas, a need that was presented by the district steering committee as critical for ensuring sustainability and high-impact in the classroom. This model offers a collaborative and inclusive learning community that connects classroom teachers to NASA climate change researchers via an ongoing consultant/mentoring approach. As a result of the first year of implementation of this model, Maryland teachers are implementing NGSS unit lessons that guide students in open-ended research based on current NASA climate change research.

  2. 76 FR 40753 - NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-11

    ..., Building 152, Dailey Road, NASA Research Park, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, CA 95035... Committee, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-0566... Christensen, Protocol Specialist, Office of the Center Director, NASA ARC, Moffett Field, CA. For questions...

  3. Beating Back Bacteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-01-01

    Under a NASA-Johnson Space Center contract, Umpqua Research developed the MCV (Trademark) (Microbial Check Valve) which uses iodinated ion exchange resin used for water purification systems aboard space missions. Using this resin, MRLB International, Inc., developed and commercialized the Dentapure purification cartridge used by dentists nationwide.

  4. Processes and Procedures of the Higher Education Programs at Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heard, Pamala D.

    2002-01-01

    The purpose of my research was to investigate the policies, processes, procedures and timelines for the higher education programs at Marshall Space Flight Center. The three higher education programs that comprised this research included: the Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP), the National Research Council/Resident Research Associateships Program (NRC/RRA) and the Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP). The GSRP award fellowships each year to promising U.S. graduate students whose research interest coincides with NASA's mission. Fellowships are awarded for one year and are renewable for up to three years to competitively selected students. Each year, the award provides students the opportunity to spend a period in residence at a NASA center using that installation's unique facilities. This program is renewable for three years, students must reapply. The National Research Council conducts the Resident Research Associateships Program (NRC/RRA), a national competition to identify outstanding recent postdoctoral scientists and engineers and experience senior scientists and engineers, for tenure as guest researchers at NASA centers. The Resident Research Associateship Program provides an opportunity for recipients of doctoral degrees to concentrate their research in association with NASA personnel, often as a culmination to formal career preparation. The program also affords established scientists and engineers an opportunity for research without any interruptions and distracting assignments generated from permanent career positions. All opportunities for research at NASA Centers are open to citizens of the U.S. and to legal permanent residents. The Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP) is conducted each summer. NASA awards research fellowships to university faculty through the NASA/American Society for Engineering Education. The program is designed to promote an exchange of ideas between university faculties, NASA scientists and engineers. Selected

  5. NASA's Space Launch System: A Heavy-Lift Platform for Entirely New Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creech, Stephen A.

    2012-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA's) Space Launch System (SLS) will contribute a new capability for human space flight and scientific missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The SLS Program, managed at NASA s Marshall Space Fight Center, will develop the heavy-lift vehicle that will launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), equipment, supplies, and major science missions. Orion will carry crews to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel, and provide safe reentry from deep-space return velocities. Supporting Orion s first autonomous flight to lunar orbit and back in 2017 and its first crewed flight in 2021, the SLS ultimately offers a flexible platform for both human and scientific exploration. The SLS plan leverages legacy infrastructure and hardware in NASA s inventory, as well as continues with advanced propulsion technologies now in development, to deliver an initial 70 metric ton (t) lift capability in 2017, evolving to a 130-t capability after 2021, using a block upgrade approach. This paper will give an overview of the SLS design and management approach against a backdrop of the missions it will support. It will detail the plan to deliver the initial SLS capability to the launch pad in the near term, as well as summarize the innovative approaches the SLS team is applying to deliver a safe, affordable, and sustainable long-range capability for entirely new missions opening a new realm of knowledge and a world of possibilities for multiple partners. Design reference missions that the SLS is being planned to support include asteroids, Lagrange Points, and Mars, among others. The Agency is developing its mission manifest in parallel with the development of a heavy-lift flagship that will dramatically increase total lift and volume capacity beyond current launch vehicle options, reduce trip times, and provide a robust platform for conducting new missions destined to rewrite textbooks with the

  6. 75 FR 17166 - NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-05

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-038)] NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics... Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory... a.m. to 1 p.m.; Eastern Daylight Time. ADDRESSES: NASA Langley Research Center, Building 1219, Room...

  7. Linguistic Preprocessing and Tagging for Problem Report Trend Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beil, Robert J.; Malin, Jane T.

    2012-01-01

    Mr. Robert Beil, Systems Engineer at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), requested the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) develop a prototype tool suite that combines complementary software technology used at Johnson Space Center (JSC) and KSC for problem report preprocessing and semantic tag extraction, to improve input to data mining and trend analysis. This document contains the outcome of the assessment and the Findings, Observations and NESC Recommendations.

  8. NASA's In-Space Manufacturing Project: A Roadmap for a Multimaterial Fabrication Laboratory in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prater, Tracie; Werkheiser, Niki; Ledbetter, Frank

    2017-01-01

    Human space exploration to date has been limited to low Earth orbit and the moon. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique opportunity for NASA to partner with private industry for development and demonstration of the technologies needed to support exploration initiatives. One challenge that is critical to sustainable and safer exploration is the ability to manufacture and recycle materials in space. This paper provides an overview of NASA's in-space manufacturing (ISM) project, its past and current activities (2014-2017), and how technologies under development will ultimately culminate in a multimaterial fabrication laboratory ("ISM FabLab") to be deployed on the International Space Station in the early 2020s. ISM is a critical capability for the long endurance missions NASA seeks to undertake in the coming decades. An unanticipated failure that can be adapted for in low earth orbit, through a resupply launch or a return to earth, may instead result in a loss of mission while in transit to Mars. To have a suite of functional ISM capabilities that are compatible with NASA's exploration timeline, ISM must be equipped with the resources necessary to develop these technologies and deploy them for testing prior to the scheduled de-orbit of ISS in 2024. The presentation provides a broad overview of ISM projects activities culminating with the Fabrication Laboratory for ISS. In 2017, the in-space manufacturing project issued a broad agency announcement for this capability. Requirements of the Fabrication Laboratory as stated in the solicitation will be discussed. The FabLab will move NASA and private industry significantly closer to changing historical paradigms for human spaceflight where all materials used in space are launched from earth. While the current ISM FabLab will be tested on ISS, future systems are eventually intended for use in a deep space habitat or transit vehicle. The work of commercial companies funded under NASA's Small Business

  9. IADC Vulnerability Report, IT32-13

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christiansen, E. L.; Miller, J. E.; Hyde, Jimx

    2016-01-01

    This section provides hypervelocity impact test data for two types of batteries: Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) and Nickel Hydrogen (Ni-H2) batteries. The impact tests were directed by the NASA Johnson Space Center Hypervelocity Impact Technology (HVIT) group in Houston Texas, and were performed at the NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF).

  10. NASA Names Premier X-Ray Observatory and Schedules Launch

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-12-01

    Chicago until his death in 1995. The Chandra X-ray Observatory will help astronomers worldwide better understand the structure and evolution of the universe by studying powerful sources of X rays such as exploding stars, matter falling into black holes and other exotic celestial objects. X-radiation is an invisible form of light produced by multimillion degree gas. Chandra will provide X-ray images that are fifty times more detailed than previous missions. At more than 45 feet in length and weighing more than five tons, it will be one of the largest objects ever placed in Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle. Tyrel Johnson, a student at Priest River Lamanna High School in Priest River, Idaho, and Jatila van der Veen, a physics and astronomy teacher at Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo, California, who submitted the winning name and essays, will receive a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to view the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, a prize donated by TRW. Members of the contest's selection committee were Timothy Hannemann, executive vice president and general manager, TRW Space & Electronics Group; the late CNN correspondent John Holliman; former Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall, professor of aeronautics at MIT; Charles Petit, senior writer for U.S. News & World Report; Sidney Wolff, Director, National Optical Astronomy Observatories; Martin Weisskopf, Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility project scientist, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.; and Harvey Tananbaum, director of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility Science Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA. The Chandra X-ray Observatory program is managed by the Marshall Center for the Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, CA, is NASA's prime contractor for the observatory. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls science and flight operations of the observatory for NASA

  11. NASA Collaborative Design Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Davey

    2017-01-01

    This is Block 1, the first evolution of the world's most powerful and versatile rocket, the Space Launch System, built to return humans to the area around the moon. Eventually, larger and even more powerful and capable configurations will take astronauts and cargo to Mars. On the sides of the rocket are the twin solid rocket boosters that provide more than 75 percent during liftoff and burn for about two minutes, after which they are jettisoned, lightening the load for the rest of the space flight. Four RS-25 main engines provide thrust for the first stage of the rocket. These are the world's most reliable rocket engines. The core stage is the main body of the rocket and houses the fuel for the RS-25 engines, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and the avionics, or "brain" of the rocket. The core stage is all new and being manufactured at NASA's "rocket factory," Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, or LVSA, connects the core stage to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS, uses one RL-10 rocket engine and will propel the Orion spacecraft on its deep-space journey after first-stage separation. Finally, the Orion human-rated spacecraft sits atop the massive Saturn V-sized launch vehicle. Managed out of Johnson Space Center in Houston, Orion is the first spacecraft in history capable of taking humans to multiple destinations within deep space. 2) Each element of the SLS utilizes collaborative design processes to achieve the incredible goal of sending human into deep space. Early phases are focused on feasibility and requirements development. Later phases are focused on detailed design, testing, and operations. There are 4 basic phases typically found in each phase of development.

  12. Meteorological Support Interface Control Working Group (MSICWG) Instrumentation, Data Format, and Networks Document

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brenton, James; Roberts, Barry C.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of instrumentation discussed at the Meteorological Interface Control Working Group (MSICWG), a reference for data formats currently used by members of the group, a summary of proposed formats for future use by the group, an overview of the data networks of the group's members. This document will be updated as new systems are introduced, old systems are retired, and when the MSICWG community necessitates a change to the formats. The MSICWG consists of personnel from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC), NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG), and the United States Air Force (USAF) 45th Space Wing and Weather Squadron. The purpose of the group is to coordinate the distribution of weather related data to support NASA space launch related activities.

  13. 75 FR 50782 - NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-17

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-087)] NASA Advisory Council; Aeronautics... Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory..., 2010, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Local Time. ADDRESSES: NASA Ames Conference Center, Building 3, 500...

  14. NASA Glenn Research Center Support of the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Scott D.; Wong, Wayne A.

    2015-01-01

    A high-efficiency radioisotope power system was being developed for long-duration NASA space science missions. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) managed a flight contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company to build Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generators (ASRGs), with support from NASA Glenn Research Center. DOE initiated termination of that contract in late 2013, primarily due to budget constraints. Sunpower, Inc., held two parallel contracts to produce Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASCs), one with Lockheed Martin to produce ASC-F flight units, and one with Glenn for the production of ASC-E3 engineering unit "pathfinders" that are built to the flight design. In support of those contracts, Glenn provided testing, materials expertise, Government-furnished equipment, inspection capabilities, and related data products to Lockheed Martin and Sunpower. The technical support included material evaluations, component tests, convertor characterization, and technology transfer. Material evaluations and component tests were performed on various ASC components in order to assess potential life-limiting mechanisms and provide data for reliability models. Convertor level tests were conducted to characterize performance under operating conditions that are representative of various mission conditions. Despite termination of the ASRG flight development contract, NASA continues to recognize the importance of high-efficiency ASC power conversion for Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) and continues investment in the technology, including the continuation of the ASC-E3 contract. This paper describes key Government support for the ASRG project and future tests to be used to provide data for ongoing reliability assessments.

  15. Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing in NASA: An Overview of Current Projects and Future Initiatives for Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clinton, R. G., Jr.

    2014-01-01

    NASA, including each Mission Directorate, is investing in, experimenting with, and/or utilizing AM across a broad spectrum of applications and projects; Centers have created and are continuing to create partnerships with industry, other Government Agencies, other Centers, and Universities; In-house additive manufacturing capability enables rapid iteration of the entire design, development and testing process, increasing innovation and reducing risk and cost to projects; For deep space exploration, AM offers significant reduction to logistics costs and risk by providing ability to create on demand; There are challenges: Overwhelming message from recent JANNAF AM for Propulsion Applications TIM was "certification."; NASA will continue to work with our partners to address this and other challenges to advance the state of the art in AM and incorporate these capabilities into an array of applications from aerospace to science missions to deep space exploration.

  16. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Controls Systems Design and Analysis Branch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilligan, Eric

    2014-01-01

    Marshall Space Flight Center maintains a critical national capability in the analysis of launch vehicle flight dynamics and flight certification of GN&C algorithms. MSFC analysts are domain experts in the areas of flexible-body dynamics and control-structure interaction, thrust vector control, sloshing propellant dynamics, and advanced statistical methods. Marshall's modeling and simulation expertise has supported manned spaceflight for over 50 years. Marshall's unparalleled capability in launch vehicle guidance, navigation, and control technology stems from its rich heritage in developing, integrating, and testing launch vehicle GN&C systems dating to the early Mercury-Redstone and Saturn vehicles. The Marshall team is continuously developing novel methods for design, including advanced techniques for large-scale optimization and analysis.

  17. NASA Langley Research Center outreach in astronautical education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duberg, J. E.

    1976-01-01

    The Langley Research Center has traditionally maintained an active relationship with the academic community, especially at the graduate level, to promote the Center's research program and to make graduate education available to its staff. Two new institutes at the Center - the Joint Institute for Acoustics and Flight Sciences, and the Institute for Computer Applications - are discussed. Both provide for research activity at the Center by university faculties. The American Society of Engineering Education Summer Faculty Fellowship Program and the NASA-NRC Postdoctoral Resident Research Associateship Program are also discussed.

  18. 75 FR 11200 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-10

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-025)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 1 p.m.-5 p.m., EST. ADDRESSES: NASA... Administration, Washington, DC, 20546. Phone 202-358-1686, fax: 202-358-3878, [email protected]nasa.gov...

  19. 75 FR 53349 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-31

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-098)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Tuesday September 14, 8 a.m. to 12 noon CDT. ADDRESSES: NASA..., Washington, DC 20546. Phone 202- 358-1686, fax: 202-358-3878, [email protected]nasa.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY...

  20. The NASA Heliophysics Active Final Archive at the Space Physics Data Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGuire, Robert E.

    2012-01-01

    The 2009 NASA Heliophysics Science Data Management Policy re-defined and extended the responsibilities of the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) project. Building on SPDF's established capabilities, the new policy assigned the role of active "Final Archive" for non-solar NASA Heliophysics data to SPDF. The policy also recognized and formalized the responsibilities of SPDF as a source for critical infrastructure services such as VSPO to the overall Heliophysics Data Environment (HpDE) and as a Center of Excellence for existing SPDF science-enabling services and software including CDAWeb, SSCWeb/4D Orbit Viewer, OMNIweb and CDF. We will focus this talk to the principles, strategies and planned SPDF architecture to effectively and efficiently perform these roles, with special emphasis on how SPDF will ensure the long-term preservation and ongoing online community access to all the data entrusted to SPDF. We will layout our archival philosophy and what we are advocating in our work with NASA missions both current and future, with potential providers of NASA and NASA-relevant archival data, and to make the data and metadata held by SPDF accessible to other systems and services within the overall HpOE. We will also briefly review our current services, their metrics and our current plans and priorities for their evolution.

  1. The birth of NASA the work of the Space Task Group, America's first true space pioneers

    CERN Document Server

    von Ehrenfried, Dutch

    2016-01-01

    This is the story of the work of the original NASA space pioneers; men and women who were suddenly organized in 1958 from the then National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) into the Space Task Group. A relatively small group, they developed the initial mission concept plans and procedures for the U. S. space program. Then they boldly built hardware and facilities to accomplish those missions. The group existed only three years before they were transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, in 1962, but their organization left a large mark on what would follow. Von Ehrenfried's personal experience with the STG at Langley uniquely positions him to describe the way the group was structured and how it reacted to the new demands of a post-Sputnik era. He artfully analyzes how the growing space program was managed and what techniques enabled it to develop so quickly from an operations perspective. The result is a fascinating window into history, amply backed up by first person documentation ...

  2. Copper Disk Manufactured at the Space Optics Manufacturing and Technology Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    This photograph shows Wes Brown, Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) lead diamond tuner, an expert in the science of using diamond-tipped tools to cut metal, inspecting the mold's physical characteristics to ensure the uniformity of its more than 6,000 grooves. This king-size copper disk, manufactured at the Space Optics Manufacturing and Technology Center (SOMTC) at MSFC, is a special mold for making high resolution monitor screens. This master mold will be used to make several other molds, each capable of forming hundreds of screens that have a type of lens called a fresnel lens. Weighing much less than conventional optics, fresnel lenses have multiple concentric grooves, each formed to a precise angle, that together create the curvature needed to focus and project images. The MSFC leads NASA's space optics manufacturing technology development as a technology leader for diamond turning. The machine used to manufacture this mold is among many one-of-a-kind pieces of equipment of MSFC's SOMTC.

  3. Wicked problems in space technology development at NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balint, Tibor S.; Stevens, John

    2016-01-01

    Technological innovation is key to enable future space exploration missions at NASA. Technology development, however, is not only driven by performance and resource considerations, but also by a broad range of directly or loosely interconnected factors. These include, among others, strategy, policy and politics at various levels, tactics and programmatics, interactions between stakeholders, resource requirements, performance goals from component to system level, mission infusion targets, portfolio execution and tracking, and technology push or mission pull. Furthermore, at NASA, these influences occur on varying timescales and at diverse geographic locations. Such a complex and interconnected system could impede space technology innovation in this examined segment of the government environment. Hence, understanding the process through NASA's Planning, Programming, Budget and Execution cycle could benefit strategic thinking, planning and execution. Insights could be gained through suitable models, for example assessing the key drivers against the framework of Wicked Problems. This paper discusses NASA specific space technology innovation and innovation barriers in the government environment through the characteristics of Wicked Problems; that is, they do not have right or wrong solutions, only improved outcomes that can be reached through authoritative, competitive, or collaborative means. We will also augment the Wicked Problems model to account for the temporally and spatially coupled, and cyclical nature of this NASA specific case, and propose how appropriate models could improve understanding of the key influencing factors. In turn, such understanding may subsequently lead to reducing innovation barriers, and stimulating technology innovation at NASA. Furthermore, our approach can be adopted for other government-directed environments to gain insights into their structures, hierarchies, operational flow, and interconnections to facilitate circular dialogs towards

  4. Behavioral Health and Performance at NASA JSC: Recent Successes and Future Plan for BHP Research and Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leveton, L. B.; VanderArk, S. T.

    2014-01-01

    The Behavioral Health and Performance discipline at NASA Johnson Space Center is organized into two distinct Divisions (Biomedical Research and Environmental Science Division and Space and Clinical Operations Division) but is integrated and interrelated in its day-to-day work. Ongoing operations supporting NASA's spaceflight goals benefit from the research portfolios that address risks to mission success. Similarly, these research portfolios are informed by operations to ensure investigations stay relevant given the dynamic environment of spaceflight. There are many success stories that can be presented where initial work begun as a BHP Research project, and funded through the Human Research Program, was fully implemented in operations or addressed an operational need. Examples include improving effectiveness of the debriefings used within Mission Control by the Mission Operations Directorate and countermeasures for fatigue management. There is also ongoing collaboration with research and operations for developing selection methods for future generation astronauts, and to enhance and inform the current family support function. The objective of this panel is to provide examples of recent success stories, describe areas where close collaboration is benefitting ongoing research and operations, and summarize how this will come together as NASA plans for the one year ISS mission - a unique opportunity for both BHP operations and research to learn more about preparing and supporting crewmembers for extended missions in space. The proposed panel will be comprised of six presentations, each describing a unique aspect of research or operations and the benefits to current and future spaceflight.

  5. The Testing Behind The Test Facility: The Acoustic Design of the NASA Glenn Research Center's World-Class Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hozman, Aron D.; Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Mark E.; McNelis, Anne M.

    2011-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is leading the design and build of the new world-class vibroacoustic test capabilities at the NASA GRC's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, USA. Benham Companies, LLC is currently constructing modal, base-shake sine and reverberant acoustic test facilities to support the future testing needs of NASA's space exploration program. The large Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) will be approximately 101,000 cu ft in volume and capable of achieving an empty chamber acoustic overall sound pressure level (OASPL) of 163 dB. This combination of size and acoustic power is unprecedented amongst the world's known active reverberant acoustic test facilities. The key to achieving the expected acoustic test spectra for a range of many NASA space flight environments in the RATF is the knowledge gained from a series of ground acoustic tests. Data was obtained from several NASA-sponsored test programs, including testing performed at the National Research Council of Canada's acoustic test facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and at the Redstone Technical Test Center acoustic test facility in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. The majority of these tests were performed to characterize the acoustic performance of the modulators (noise generators) and representative horns that would be required to meet the desired spectra, as well as to evaluate possible supplemental gas jet noise sources. The knowledge obtained in each of these test programs enabled the design of the RATF sound generation system to confidently advance to its final acoustic design and subsequent on-going construction.

  6. Advanced Solar Cell and Array Technology for NASA Deep Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piszczor, Michael; Benson, Scott; Scheiman, David; Finacannon, Homer; Oleson, Steve; Landis, Geoffrey

    2008-01-01

    A recent study by the NASA Glenn Research Center assessed the feasibility of using photovoltaics (PV) to power spacecraft for outer planetary, deep space missions. While the majority of spacecraft have relied on photovoltaics for primary power, the drastic reduction in solar intensity as the spacecraft moves farther from the sun has either limited the power available (severely curtailing scientific operations) or necessitated the use of nuclear systems. A desire by NASA and the scientific community to explore various bodies in the outer solar system and conduct "long-term" operations using using smaller, "lower-cost" spacecraft has renewed interest in exploring the feasibility of using photovoltaics for to Jupiter, Saturn and beyond. With recent advances in solar cell performance and continuing development in lightweight, high power solar array technology, the study determined that photovoltaics is indeed a viable option for many of these missions.

  7. Potential large missions enabled by NASA's space launch system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.; Schnell, Andrew; Smith, David A.; Jackman, Angela; Warfield, Keith R.

    2016-07-01

    Large space telescope missions have always been limited by their launch vehicle's mass and volume capacities. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was specifically designed to fit inside the Space Shuttle and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is specifically designed to fit inside an Ariane 5. Astrophysicists desire even larger space telescopes. NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-m Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultra-high-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. AURA's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-m class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. NASA's "Planning for the 2020 Decadal Survey" calls for a Habitable Exoplanet Imaging (HabEx) and a LUVOIR as well as Far-IR and an X-Ray Surveyor missions. Packaging larger space telescopes into existing launch vehicles is a significant engineering complexity challenge that drives cost and risk. NASA's planned Space Launch System (SLS), with its 8 or 10-m diameter fairings and ability to deliver 35 to 45-mt of payload to Sun-Earth-Lagrange-2, mitigates this challenge by fundamentally changing the design paradigm for large space telescopes. This paper reviews the mass and volume capacities of the planned SLS, discusses potential implications of these capacities for designing large space telescope missions, and gives three specific mission concept implementation examples: a 4-m monolithic off-axis telescope, an 8-m monolithic on-axis telescope and a 12-m segmented on-axis telescope.

  8. Cognitive Assessment During Long-Duration Space Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seaton, Kimberly; Kane, R. L.; Sipes, Walter

    2010-01-01

    The Space Flight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) is a computer-based, self-administered battery of five cognitive assessment tests developed for medical operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. WinSCAT is a medical requirement for U.S. long-duration astronauts and has been implemented with U.S. astronauts from one NASA/Mir mission (NASA-7 mission) and all expeditions to date on the International Space Station (ISS). Its purpose is to provide ISS crew surgeons with an objective clinical tool after an unexpected traumatic event, a medical condition, or the cumulative effects of space flight that could negatively affect an astronaut's cognitive status and threaten mission success. WinSCAT was recently updated to add network capability to support a 6-person crew on the station support computers. Additionally, WinSCAT Version 2.0.28 has increased difficulty of items in Mathematics, increased number of items in Match-to-Sample, incorporates a moving rather than a fixed baseline, and implements stricter interpretation rules. ISS performance data were assessed to compare initial to modified interpretation rules for detecting potential changes in cognitive functioning during space flight. WinSCAT tests are routinely taken monthly during an ISS mission. Performance data from these ISS missions do not indicate significant cognitive decrements due to microgravity/space flight alone but have shown decrements. Applying the newly derived rules to ISS data results in a number of off-nominal performances at various times during and after flight.. Correlation to actual events is needed, but possible explanations for off-nominal performances could include actual physical factors such as toxic exposure, medication effects, or fatigue; emotional factors including stress from the mission or life events; or failure to exert adequate effort on the tests.

  9. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's Space Weather Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, Scott

    2011-01-01

    Presentation involves educating Goddard Space Weather staff about what our needs are, what type of aircraft we have and to learn what we have done in the past to minimize our exposure to Space Weather Hazards.

  10. NASA's Space Launch System: Affordability for Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    May, Todd A.; Creech, Stephen D.

    2012-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is charged with delivering a new capability for human exploration beyond Earth orbit in an austere economic climate. But the SLS value is clear and codified in United States (U.S.) budget law. The SLS Program knows that affordability is the key to sustainability and will provide an overview of initiatives designed to fit within the funding guidelines by using existing engine assets and hardware now in testing to meet a first launch by 2017 within the projected budget. It also has a long-range plan to keep the budget flat, yet evolve the 70-tonne (t) initial lift capability to 130-t lift capability after the first two flights. To achieve the evolved configuration, advanced technologies must offer appropriate return on investment to be selected through the competitive process. For context, the SLS will be larger than the Saturn V that took 12 men on 6 trips for a total of 11 days on the lunar surface some 40 years ago. Astronauts train for long-duration voyages on platforms such as the International Space Station, but have not had transportation to go beyond Earth orbit in modern times, until now. To arrive at the launch vehicle concept, the SLS Program conducted internal engineering and business studies that have been externally validated by industry and reviewed by independent assessment panels. In parallel with SLS concept studies, NASA is now refining its mission manifest, guided by U.S. space policy and the Global Exploration Roadmap, which reflects the mutual goals of a dozen member nations. This mission planning will converge with a flexible heavy-lift rocket that can carry international crews and the air, water, food, and equipment they need for extended trips to asteroids and Mars. In addition, the SLS capability will accommodate very large science instruments and other payloads, using a series of modular fairings and

  11. NASA Mission Operations Directorate Preparations for the COTS Visiting Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shull, Sarah A.; Peek, Kenneth E.

    2011-01-01

    With the retirement of the Space Shuttle looming, a series of new spacecraft is under development to assist in providing for the growing logistical needs of the International Space Station (ISS). Two of these vehicles are being built under a NASA initiative known as the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. These visiting vehicles ; Space X s Dragon and Orbital Science Corporation s Cygnus , are to be domestically produced in the United States and designed to add to the capabilities of the Russian Progress and Soyuz workhorses, the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and the Japanese H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV). Most of what is known about the COTS program has focused on the work of Orbital and SpaceX in designing, building, and testing their respective launch and cargo vehicles. However, there is also a team within the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) at NASA s Johnson Space Center working with their operational counterparts in these companies to provide operational safety oversight and mission assurance via the development of operational scenarios and products needed for these missions. Ensuring that the operational aspect is addressed for the initial demonstration flights of these vehicles is the topic of this paper. Integrating Dragon and Cygnus into the ISS operational environment has posed a unique challenge to NASA and their partner companies. This is due in part to the short time span of the COTS program, as measured from initial contract award until first launch, as well as other factors that will be explored in the text. Operational scenarios and products developed for each COTS vehicle will be discussed based on the following categories: timelines, on-orbit checkout, ground documentation, crew procedures, software updates and training materials. Also addressed is an outline of the commonalities associated with the operations for each vehicle. It is the intent of the authors to provide their audience with a better

  12. NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Delivery for Smallsats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Kimberly F.; Norris, George

    2017-01-01

    Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed CubeSats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the CubeSats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage

  13. Stennis Space Center observes 2009 Safety and Health Day

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Sue Smith, a medical clinic employee at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, takes the temperature of colleague Karen Badon during 2009 Safety and Health Day activities Oct. 22. Safety Day activities included speakers, informational sessions and a number of displays on safety and health issues. Astronaut Dominic Gorie also visited the south Mississippi rocket engine testing facility during the day to address employees and present several Silver Snoopy awards for outstanding contributions to flight safety and mission success. The activities were part of an ongoing safety and health emphasis at Stennis.

  14. Lessons Learned: Mechanical Component and Tribology Activities in Support of Return to Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Handschuh, Robert F.; Zaretsky, Erwin V.

    2017-01-01

    The February 2003 loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia resulted in NASA Management revisiting every critical system onboard this very complex, reusable space vehicle in a an effort to Return to Flight. Many months after the disaster, contact between NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA Glenn Research Center evolved into an in-depth assessment of the actuator drive systems for the Rudder Speed Brake and Body Flap Systems. The actuators are CRIT 1-1 systems that classifies them as failure of any of the actuators could result in loss of crew and vehicle. Upon further evaluation of these actuator systems and the resulting issues uncovered, several research activities were initiated, conducted, and reported to the NASA Space Shuttle Program Management. The papers contained in this document are the contributions of many researchers from NASA Glenn Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center as part of a Lessons Learned on mechanical actuation systems as used in space applications. Many of the findings contained in this document were used as a basis to safely Return to Flight for the remaining Space Shuttle Fleet until their retirement.

  15. NASA Airline Operations Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mogford, Richard H.

    2016-01-01

    This is a PowerPoint presentation NASA airline operations center (AOC) research. It includes information on using IBM Watson in the AOC. It also reviews a dispatcher decision support tool call the Flight Awareness Collaboration Tool (FACT). FACT gathers information about winter weather onto one screen and includes predictive abilities. It should prove to be useful for airline dispatchers and airport personnel when they manage winter storms and their effect on air traffic. This material is very similar to other previously approved presentations with the same title.

  16. A Comparison of Flow-Through Versus Non-Flow-Through Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for NASA's Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoberecht, Mark A.

    2010-01-01

    As part of the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) under the auspices of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), NASA is developing both primary fuel cell power systems and regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage systems within the fuel cell portion of the Energy Storage Project. This effort is being led by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in partnership with the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and industrial partners. The development goals are to improve fuel cell and electrolysis stack electrical performance, reduce system mass, volume, and parasitic power requirements, and increase system life and reliability. A major focus of this effort has been the parallel development of both flow-through and non-flow-through proton exchange membrane (PEM) primary fuel cell power systems. The plan has been, at the appropriate time, to select a single primary fuel cell technology for eventual flight hardware development. Ideally, that appropriate time would occur after both technologies have achieved a technology readiness level (TRL) of six, which represents an engineering model fidelity PEM fuel cell system being successfully tested in a relevant environment. Budget constraints in fiscal year 2009 and beyond have prevented NASA from continuing to pursue the parallel development of both primary fuel cell options. Because very limited data exists for either system, a toplevel, qualitative assessment based on engineering judgement was performed expeditiously to provide guidance for a selection. At that time, the non-flow-through technology was selected for continued development because of potentially major advantages in terms of weight, volume, parasitic power, reliability, and life. This author believes that the advantages are significant enough, and the potential benefits great enough, to offset the higher state of technology readiness of flow-through technology. This paper

  17. NASA universities advanced space design program, focus on nuclear engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyon, W.F. III; George, J.A.; Alred, J.W.; Peddicord, K.L.

    1987-01-01

    In January 1985, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in affiliation with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), inaugurated the NASA Universities Advanced Space Design Program. The purpose of the program was to encourage participating universities to utilize design projects for the senior and graduate level design courses that would focus on topics relevant to the nation's space program. The activities and projects being carried out under the NASA Universities Advanced Space Design Program are excellent experiences for the participants. This program is a well-conceived, well-planned effort to achieve the maximum benefit out of not only the university design experience but also of the subsequent summer programs. The students in the university design classes have the opportunity to investigate dramatic and new concepts, which at the same time have a place in a program of national importance. This program could serve as a very useful model for the development of university interaction with other federal agencies

  18. Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA Lewis Research Center space qualified hybrid high temperature superconducting/semiconducting 7.4 GHz low-noise downconverter for NRL HTSSE-II program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Javadi, H.H.S.; Bowen, J.G.; Rascoe, D.L.; Chorey, C.M.

    1996-01-01

    A deep space satellite downconverter receiver was proposed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) for the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) high temperature superconductivity space experiment, phase-II (HTSSE-II) program. Space qualified low-noise cryogenic downconverter receivers utilizing thin-film high temperature superconducting (HTS) passive circuitry and semiconductor active devices were developed and delivered to NRL. The downconverter consists of an HTS preselect filter, a cryogenic low-noise amplifier, a cryogenic mixer, and a cryogenic oscillator with an HTS resonator. HTS components were inserted as the front-end filter and the local oscillator resonator for their superior 77 K performance over the conventional components. The semiconducting low noise amplifier also benefited from cooling to 77 K. The mixer was designed specifically for cryogenic applications and provided low conversion loss and low power consumption. In addition to an engineering model, two space qualified units (qualification, flight) were built and delivered to NRL. Manufacturing, integration and test of the space qualified downconverters adhered to the requirements of JPL class-D space instruments and partially to MIL-STD-883D specifications. The qualification unit has ∼50 K system noise temperature which is a factor of three better than a conventional downconverter at room temperature

  19. Intelligent Systems Technologies for Ops

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Ernest E.; Korsmeyer, David J.

    2012-01-01

    As NASA supports International Space Station assembly complete operations through 2020 (or later) and prepares for future human exploration programs, there is additional emphasis in the manned spaceflight program to find more efficient and effective ways of providing the ground-based mission support. Since 2006 this search for improvement has led to a significant cross-fertilization between the NASA advanced software development community and the manned spaceflight operations community. A variety of mission operations systems and tools have been developed over the past decades as NASA has operated the Mars robotic missions, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station. NASA Ames Research Center has been developing and applying its advanced intelligent systems research to mission operations tools for both unmanned Mars missions operations since 2001 and to manned operations with NASA Johnson Space Center since 2006. In particular, the fundamental advanced software development work under the Exploration Technology Program, and the experience and capabilities developed for mission operations systems for the Mars surface missions, (Spirit/Opportunity, Phoenix Lander, and MSL) have enhanced the development and application of advanced mission operation systems for the International Space Station and future spacecraft. This paper provides an update on the status of the development and deployment of a variety of intelligent systems technologies adopted for manned mission operations, and some discussion of the planned work for Autonomous Mission Operations in future human exploration. We discuss several specific projects between the Ames Research Center and the Johnson Space Centers Mission Operations Directorate, and how these technologies and projects are enhancing the mission operations support for the International Space Station, and supporting the current Autonomous Mission Operations Project for the mission operation support of the future human exploration

  20. Game Changing: NASA's Space Launch System and Science Mission Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creech, Stephen D.

    2013-01-01

    NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is directing efforts to build the Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will carry the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and other important payloads far beyond Earth orbit (BEO). Its evolvable architecture will allow NASA to begin with Moon fly-bys and then go on to transport humans or robots to distant places such as asteroids and Mars. Designed to simplify spacecraft complexity, the SLS rocket will provide improved mass margins and radiation mitigation, and reduced mission durations. These capabilities offer attractive advantages for ambitious missions such as a Mars sample return, by reducing infrastructure requirements, cost, and schedule. For example, if an evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) were used for a proposed mission to investigate the Saturn system, a complicated trajectory would be required - with several gravity-assist planetary fly-bys - to achieve the necessary outbound velocity. The SLS rocket, using significantly higher C3 energies, can more quickly and effectively take the mission directly to its destination, reducing trip time and cost. As this paper will report, the SLS rocket will launch payloads of unprecedented mass and volume, such as "monolithic" telescopes and in-space infrastructure. Thanks to its ability to co-manifest large payloads, it also can accomplish complex missions in fewer launches. Future analyses will include reviews of alternate mission concepts and detailed evaluations of SLS figures of merit, helping the new rocket revolutionize science mission planning and design for years to come.

  1. The 2004 NASA Faculty Fellowship Program Research Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pruitt, J. R.; Karr, G.; Freeman, L. M.; Hassan, R.; Day, J. B. (Compiler)

    2005-01-01

    This is the administrative report for the 2004 NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP) held at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for the 40th consecutive year. The NFFP offers science and engineering faculty at U.S. colleges and universities hands-on exposure to NASA s research challenges through summer research residencies and extended research opportunities at participating NASA research Centers. During this program, fellows work closely with NASA colleagues on research challenges important to NASA's strategic enterprises that are of mutual interest to the fellow and the Center. The nominal starting and .nishing dates for the 10-week program were June 1 through August 6, 2004. The program was sponsored by NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, and operated under contract by The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Alabama A&M University. In addition, promotion and applications are managed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and assessment is completed by Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The primary objectives of the NFFP are to: Increase the quality and quantity of research collaborations between NASA and the academic community that contribute to the Agency s space aeronautics and space science mission. Engage faculty from colleges, universities, and community colleges in current NASA research and development. Foster a greater public awareness of NASA science and technology, and therefore facilitate academic and workforce literacy in these areas. Strengthen faculty capabilities to enhance the STEM workforce, advance competition, and infuse mission-related research and technology content into classroom teaching. Increase participation of underrepresented and underserved faculty and institutions in NASA science and technology.

  2. CCSDS telemetry systems experience at the Goddard Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carper, Richard D.; Stallings, William H., III

    1990-01-01

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) designs, builds, manages, and operates science and applications spacecraft in near-earth orbit, and provides data capture, data processing, and flight control services for these spacecraft. In addition, GSFC has the responsibility of providing space-ground and ground-ground communications for near-earth orbiting spacecraft, including those of the manned spaceflight programs. The goal of reducing both the developmental and operating costs of the end-to-end information system has led the GSFC to support and participate in the standardization activities of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), including those for packet telemetry. The environment in which such systems function is described, and the GSFC experience with CCSDS packet telemetry in the context of the Gamma-Ray Observatory project is discussed.

  3. Ecological Impacts of the Space Shuttle Program at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Carlton R.; Schmalzer, Paul A.; Breininger, David R.; Duncan, Brean W.; Drese, John H.; Scheidt, Doug A.; Lowers, Russ H.; Reyier, Eric A.; Holloway-Adkins, Karen G.; Oddy, Donna M.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The Space Shuttle Program was one of NASAs first major undertakings to fall under the environmental impact analysis and documentation requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Space Shuttle Program activities at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the associated Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) contributed directly and indirectly to both negative and positive ecological trends in the region through the long-term, stable expenditure of resources over the 40 year program life cycle. These expenditures provided support to regional growth and development in conjunction with other sources that altered land use patterns, eliminated and modified habitats, and contributed to cultural eutrophication of the Indian River Lagoon. At KSC, most Space Shuttle Program related actions were conducted in previously developed facilities and industrial areas with the exception of the construction of the shuttle landing facility (SLF) and the space station processing facility (SSPF). Launch and operations impacts were minimal as a result of the low annual launch rate. The majority of concerns identified during the NEPA process such as potential weather modification, acid rain off site, and local climate change did not occur. Launch impacts from deposition of HCl and particulates were assimilated as a result of the high buffering capacity of the system and low launch and loading rates. Metals deposition from exhaust deposition did not display acute impacts. Sub-lethal effects are being investigated as part of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulatory process. Major positive Space Shuttle Program effects were derived from the adequate resources available at the Center to implement the numerous environmental laws and regulations designed to enhance the quality of the environment and minimize impacts from human activities. This included reduced discharges of domestic and industrial wastewater, creation of stormwater management

  4. Ultraviolet Testing of Space Suit Materials for Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Kristine; Fries, Marc

    2017-01-01

    Human missions to Mars may require radical changes in the approach to extra-vehicular (EVA) suit design. A major challenge is the balance of building a suit robust enough to complete multiple EVAs under intense ultraviolet (UV) light exposure without losing mechanical strength or compromising the suit's mobility. To study how the materials degrade on Mars in-situ, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) invited the Advanced Space Suit team at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) to place space suit materials on the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument's calibration target of the Mars 2020 rover. In order to select materials for the rover and understand the effects from Mars equivalent UV exposure, JSC conducted ground testing on both current and new space suit materials when exposed to 2500 hours of Mars mission equivalent UV. To complete this testing, JSC partnered with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to utilize their UV vacuum chambers. Materials tested were Orthofabric, polycarbonate, Teflon, Dacron, Vectran, spectra, bladder, nGimat coated Teflon, and nGimat coated Orthofabric. All samples were measured for mass, tensile strength, and chemical composition before and after radiation. Mass loss was insignificant (less than 0.5%) among the materials. Most materials loss tensile strength after radiation and became more brittle with a loss of elongation. Changes in chemical composition were seen in all radiated materials through Spectral Analysis. Results from this testing helped select the materials that will fly on the Mars 2020 rover. In addition, JSC can use this data to create a correlation to the chemical changes after radiation-which is what the rover will send back while on Mars-to the mechanical changes, such as tensile strength.

  5. Development of Methodologies, Metrics, and Tools for Investigating Human-Robot Interaction in Space Robotics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezer, Neta; Zumbado, Jennifer Rochlis; Sandor, Aniko; Boyer, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    Human-robot systems are expected to have a central role in future space exploration missions that extend beyond low-earth orbit [1]. As part of a directed research project funded by NASA s Human Research Program (HRP), researchers at the Johnson Space Center have started to use a variety of techniques, including literature reviews, case studies, knowledge capture, field studies, and experiments to understand critical human-robot interaction (HRI) variables for current and future systems. Activities accomplished to date include observations of the International Space Station s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), Robonaut, and Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV), as well as interviews with robotics trainers, robot operators, and developers of gesture interfaces. A survey of methods and metrics used in HRI was completed to identify those most applicable to space robotics. These methods and metrics included techniques and tools associated with task performance, the quantification of human-robot interactions and communication, usability, human workload, and situation awareness. The need for more research in areas such as natural interfaces, compensations for loss of signal and poor video quality, psycho-physiological feedback, and common HRI testbeds were identified. The initial findings from these activities and planned future research are discussed. Human-robot systems are expected to have a central role in future space exploration missions that extend beyond low-earth orbit [1]. As part of a directed research project funded by NASA s Human Research Program (HRP), researchers at the Johnson Space Center have started to use a variety of techniques, including literature reviews, case studies, knowledge capture, field studies, and experiments to understand critical human-robot interaction (HRI) variables for current and future systems. Activities accomplished to date include observations of the International Space Station s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator

  6. Mentoring SFRM: A New Approach to International Space Station Flight Control Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huning, Therese; Barshi, Immanuel; Schmidt, Lacey

    2009-01-01

    The Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) of the Johnson Space Center is responsible for providing continuous operations support for the International Space Station (ISS). Operations support requires flight controllers who are skilled in team performance as well as the technical operations of the ISS. Space Flight Resource Management (SFRM), a NASA adapted variant of Crew Resource Management (CRM), is the competency model used in the MOD. ISS flight controller certification has evolved to include a balanced focus on development of SFRM and technical expertise. The latest challenge the MOD faces is how to certify an ISS flight controller (Operator) to a basic level of effectiveness in 1 year. SFRM training uses a twopronged approach to expediting operator certification: 1) imbed SFRM skills training into all Operator technical training and 2) use senior flight controllers as mentors. This paper focuses on how the MOD uses senior flight controllers as mentors to train SFRM skills.

  7. How the Station will operate. [operation, management, and maintenance in space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, John T.

    1988-01-01

    Aspects of the upcoming operational phase of the Space Station (SS) are examined. What the crew members will do with their time in their specialized roles is addressed. SS maintenance and servicing and the interaction of the SS Control Center with Johnson Space Center is discussed. The planning of payload operations and strategic planning for the SS are examined.

  8. NASA Stennis Space Center Integrated System Health Management Test Bed and Development Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Figueroa, Fernando; Holland, Randy; Coote, David

    2006-01-01

    Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) is a capability that focuses on determining the condition (health) of every element in a complex System (detect anomalies, diagnose causes, prognosis of future anomalies), and provide data, information, and knowledge (DIaK)-not just data-to control systems for safe and effective operation. This capability is currently done by large teams of people, primarily from ground, but needs to be embedded on-board systems to a higher degree to enable NASA's new Exploration Mission (long term travel and stay in space), while increasing safety and decreasing life cycle costs of spacecraft (vehicles; platforms; bases or outposts; and ground test, launch, and processing operations). The topics related to this capability include: 1) ISHM Related News Articles; 2) ISHM Vision For Exploration; 3) Layers Representing How ISHM is Currently Performed; 4) ISHM Testbeds & Prototypes at NASA SSC; 5) ISHM Functional Capability Level (FCL); 6) ISHM Functional Capability Level (FCL) and Technology Readiness Level (TRL); 7) Core Elements: Capabilities Needed; 8) Core Elements; 9) Open Systems Architecture for Condition-Based Maintenance (OSA-CBM); 10) Core Elements: Architecture, taxonomy, and ontology (ATO) for DIaK management; 11) Core Elements: ATO for DIaK Management; 12) ISHM Architecture Physical Implementation; 13) Core Elements: Standards; 14) Systematic Implementation; 15) Sketch of Work Phasing; 16) Interrelationship Between Traditional Avionics Systems, Time Critical ISHM and Advanced ISHM; 17) Testbeds and On-Board ISHM; 18) Testbed Requirements: RETS AND ISS; 19) Sustainable Development and Validation Process; 20) Development of on-board ISHM; 21) Taxonomy/Ontology of Object Oriented Implementation; 22) ISHM Capability on the E1 Test Stand Hydraulic System; 23) Define Relationships to Embed Intelligence; 24) Intelligent Elements Physical and Virtual; 25) ISHM Testbeds and Prototypes at SSC Current Implementations; 26) Trailer

  9. Medical Practice Makes Perfect

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-01-01

    Cedaron Medical Inc., was founded in 1990 as a result of a NASA SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) grant from Johnson Space Center to develop a Hand Testing and Exercise Unit for use in space. From that research came Dexter, a comprehensive workstation that creates a paperless environment for medical data management.

  10. Improvements to the Ionizing Radiation Risk Assessment Program for NASA Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semones, E. J.; Bahadori, A. A.; Picco, C. E.; Shavers, M. R.; Flores-McLaughlin, J.

    2011-01-01

    To perform dosimetry and risk assessment, NASA collects astronaut ionizing radiation exposure data from space flight, medical imaging and therapy, aviation training activities and prior occupational exposure histories. Career risk of exposure induced death (REID) from radiation is limited to 3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The Radiation Health Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is implementing a program to integrate the gathering, storage, analysis and reporting of astronaut ionizing radiation dose and risk data and records. This work has several motivations, including more efficient analyses and greater flexibility in testing and adopting new methods for evaluating risks. The foundation for these improvements is a set of software tools called the Astronaut Radiation Exposure Analysis System (AREAS). AREAS is a series of MATLAB(Registered TradeMark)-based dose and risk analysis modules that interface with an enterprise level SQL Server database by means of a secure web service. It communicates with other JSC medical and space weather databases to maintain data integrity and consistency across systems. AREAS is part of a larger NASA Space Medicine effort, the Mission Medical Integration Strategy, with the goal of collecting accurate, high-quality and detailed astronaut health data, and then securely, timely and reliably presenting it to medical support personnel. The modular approach to the AREAS design accommodates past, current, and future sources of data from active and passive detectors, space radiation transport algorithms, computational phantoms and cancer risk models. Revisions of the cancer risk model, new radiation detection equipment and improved anthropomorphic computational phantoms can be incorporated. Notable hardware updates include the Radiation Environment Monitor (which uses Medipix technology to report real-time, on-board dosimetry measurements), an updated Tissue-Equivalent Proportional Counter, and the Southwest Research Institute

  11. Biological Visualization, Imaging and Simulation(Bio-VIS) at NASA Ames Research Center: Developing New Software and Technology for Astronaut Training and Biology Research in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Jeffrey

    2003-01-01

    The Bio- Visualization, Imaging and Simulation (BioVIS) Technology Center at NASA's Ames Research Center is dedicated to developing and applying advanced visualization, computation and simulation technologies to support NASA Space Life Sciences research and the objectives of the Fundamental Biology Program. Research ranges from high resolution 3D cell imaging and structure analysis, virtual environment simulation of fine sensory-motor tasks, computational neuroscience and biophysics to biomedical/clinical applications. Computer simulation research focuses on the development of advanced computational tools for astronaut training and education. Virtual Reality (VR) and Virtual Environment (VE) simulation systems have become important training tools in many fields from flight simulation to, more recently, surgical simulation. The type and quality of training provided by these computer-based tools ranges widely, but the value of real-time VE computer simulation as a method of preparing individuals for real-world tasks is well established. Astronauts routinely use VE systems for various training tasks, including Space Shuttle landings, robot arm manipulations and extravehicular activities (space walks). Currently, there are no VE systems to train astronauts for basic and applied research experiments which are an important part of many missions. The Virtual Glovebox (VGX) is a prototype VE system for real-time physically-based simulation of the Life Sciences Glovebox where astronauts will perform many complex tasks supporting research experiments aboard the International Space Station. The VGX consists of a physical display system utilizing duel LCD projectors and circular polarization to produce a desktop-sized 3D virtual workspace. Physically-based modeling tools (Arachi Inc.) provide real-time collision detection, rigid body dynamics, physical properties and force-based controls for objects. The human-computer interface consists of two magnetic tracking devices

  12. 75 FR 39973 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-13

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-076)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Committee to the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Eastern. ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW., PRC/Room 9H40, Washington, DC 20546. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...

  13. Operational environments for electrical power wiring on NASA space systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavnes, Mark W.; Hammoud, Ahmad N.; Bercaw, Robert W.

    1994-01-01

    Electrical wiring systems are used extensively on NASA space systems for power management and distribution, control and command, and data transmission. The reliability of these systems when exposed to the harsh environments of space is very critical to mission success and crew safety. Failures have been reported both on the ground and in flight due to arc tracking in the wiring harnesses, made possible by insulation degradation. This report was written as part of a NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (Code Q) program to identify and characterize wiring systems in terms of their potential use in aerospace vehicles. The goal of the program is to provide the information and guidance needed to develop and qualify reliable, safe, lightweight wiring systems, which are resistant to arc tracking and suitable for use in space power applications. This report identifies the environments in which NASA spacecraft will operate, and determines the specific NASA testing requirements. A summary of related test programs is also given in this report. This data will be valuable to spacecraft designers in determining the best wiring constructions for the various NASA applications.

  14. An evaluation of the total quality management implementation strategy for the advanced solid rocket motor project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. M.S. Thesis - Tennessee Univ.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schramm, Harry F.; Sullivan, Kenneth W.

    1991-01-01

    An evaluation of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) strategy to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Project is presented. The evaluation of the implementation strategy reflected the Civil Service personnel perspective at the project level. The external and internal environments at MSFC were analyzed for their effects on the ASRM TQM strategy. Organizational forms, cultures, management systems, problem solving techniques, and training were assessed for their influence on the implementation strategy. The influence of ASRM's effort was assessed relative to its impact on mature projects as well as future projects at MSFC.

  15. Hardware Interface Description for the Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (iPAS) Space Telecommunications Radio Ssystem (STRS) Radio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shalkhauser, Mary Jo W.; Roche, Rigoberto

    2017-01-01

    The Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) provides a common, consistent framework for software defined radios (SDRs) to abstract the application software from the radio platform hardware. The STRS standard aims to reduce the cost and risk of using complex, configurable and reprogrammable radio systems across NASA missions. To promote the use of the STRS architecture for future NASA advanced exploration missions, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) developed an STRS-compliant SDR on a radio platform used by the Advance Exploration System program at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in their Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (iPAS) laboratory. The iPAS STRS Radio was implemented on the Reconfigurable, Intelligently-Adaptive Communication System (RIACS) platform, currently being used for radio development at JSC. The platform consists of a Xilinx ML605 Virtex-6 FPGA board, an Analog Devices FMCOMMS1-EBZ RF transceiver board, and an Embedded PC (Axiomtek eBox 620-110-FL) running the Ubuntu 12.4 operating system. Figure 1 shows the RIACS platform hardware. The result of this development is a very low cost STRS compliant platform that can be used for waveform developments for multiple applications.The purpose of this document is to describe how to develop a new waveform using the RIACS platform and the Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) FPGA wrapper code and the STRS implementation on the Axiomtek processor.

  16. Waveform Developer's Guide for the Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (iPAS) Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) Radio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shalkhauser, Mary Jo W.; Roche, Rigoberto

    2017-01-01

    The Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) provides a common, consistent framework for software defined radios (SDRs) to abstract the application software from the radio platform hardware. The STRS standard aims to reduce the cost and risk of using complex, configurable and reprogrammable radio systems across NASA missions. To promote the use of the STRS architecture for future NASA advanced exploration missions, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) developed an STRS-compliant SDR on a radio platform used by the Advance Exploration System program at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in their Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (iPAS) laboratory. The iPAS STRS Radio was implemented on the Reconfigurable, Intelligently-Adaptive Communication System (RIACS) platform, currently being used for radio development at JSC. The platform consists of a Xilinx(Trademark) ML605 Virtex(Trademark)-6 FPGA board, an Analog Devices FMCOMMS1-EBZ RF transceiver board, and an Embedded PC (Axiomtek(Trademark) eBox 620-110-FL) running the Ubuntu 12.4 operating system. The result of this development is a very low cost STRS compliant platform that can be used for waveform developments for multiple applications. The purpose of this document is to describe how to develop a new waveform using the RIACS platform and the Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) FPGA wrapper code and the STRS implementation on the Axiomtek processor.

  17. NASA Lewis Research Center's materials and structures division

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weymueller, C.R.

    1976-01-01

    Research activities at the NASA Lewis Research Center on materials and structures are discussed. Programs are noted on powder metallurgy superalloys, eutectic alloys, dispersion strengthened alloys and composite materials. Discussions are included on materials applications, coatings, fracture mechanics, and fatigue

  18. NASA's Commercial Crew Program, The Next Step in U.S. Space Transportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mango, Edward J.; Thomas, Rayelle E.

    2013-01-01

    The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is leading NASA's efforts to develop the next U.S. capability for crew transportation and rescue services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) by the mid-decade timeframe. The outcome of this capability is expected to stimulate and expand the U.S. space transportation industry. NASA is relying on its decades of human space flight experience to certify U.S. crewed vehicles to the ISS and is doing so in a two phase certification approach. NASA Certification will cover all aspects of a crew transportation system, including development, test, evaluation, and verification; program management and control; flight readiness certification; launch, landing, recovery, and mission operations; sustaining engineering and maintenance/upgrades. To ensure NASA crew safety, NASA Certification will validate technical and performance requirements, verify compliance with NASA requirements, validate the crew transportation system operates in appropriate environments, and quantify residual risks.

  19. Determination of the Risk of Radiation-Associated Circulatory and Cancer Disease Mortality in a NASA Early Astronaut Cohort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elgart, S. R.; Chappell, L.; Milder, C. M.; Shavers, M. R.; Huff, J. L.; Little, M.; Patel, Z. S.

    2017-01-01

    Of the many possible health challenges posed during extended exploratory missions to space, the effects of space radiation on cardiovascular disease and cancer are of particular concern. There are unique challenges to estimating those radiation risks; care and appropriate and rigorous methodology should be applied when considering small cohorts such as the NASA astronaut population. The objective of this work was to determine if there was sufficient evidence for excess risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer in early NASA astronaut cohorts. NASA astronauts in selection groups 1-7 were chosen; this relatively homogeneous cohort consists of 73 white males, who unlike today's astronauts, maintained similar smoking and drinking habits to the general US population, and have published radiation doses. The participants flew in space on missions Mercury through Shuttle and received space radiation doses between 0-74.1 milligrays. Cause of death information was obtained from the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) program at NASA Johnson Space Center. Mortality was compared with the US male population. Trends of mortality with dose were assessed using a logistic model, fitted by maximum likelihood. Only 32 (43.84 percent) of the 73 early astronauts have died. Standard mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancer (n=7, SMR=43.4, 95 percent CI 17.8, 84.9), all circulatory disease (n=7, SMR=33.2, 95 percent CI 13.7, 65.0), and ischemic heart disease (IHD) (n=5, SMR=40.1, 95 percent CI 13.2, 89.4) were significantly lower than for the US white male population. For cerebrovascular disease, the upper confidence interval for SMR included 100, indicating it was not significantly different from the US population (n=2, SMR = 77.0, 95 percent CI 9.4, 268.2). The power of the study is low and remains below 10 percent even when risks 10 times those reported in the literature are assumed. Due to small sample size, there is currently insufficient statistical power to evaluate space

  20. Performance Data Report: Space Medicine Division, Human Research Program, Behavioural Health and Performance Research Element

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shea, Camille; Keeton, Kathryn E.; Schmidt, Lacey L.; Slack, Kelley J.; Patterson, Holly N.; Leveton, Lauren B.; Holland, Albert W.

    2012-01-01

    This report is the result of a collaborative effort between NASA?s Behavioral Health & Performance (BHP) Research and Operations Group to investigate and determine the availability of data pertaining to behavioral performance (and other pertinent variables) that have been collected by the laboratories at NASA?s Johnson Space Center. BHP?s Operations and Research groups collaborated to systematically identify what types of performance data are needed in relevant BHP performance domains and also to conduct structured interviews with NASA personnel to identify which data do or do not exist currently (and for instances where such data exist, to evaluate the type, quality, accessibility, and confidentiality of those data). The authors defined outcome categories of performance that encapsulate BHP performance domains, mapped BHP Research Risks and Gaps onto those performance outcome categories, and identified and prioritized indicators for each outcome category. The team identified key points of contact (subject matter experts [SMEs]) as potential interviewees, created a template for structured interview questions about sources and accessibility of performance data, and coordinated and conducted structured interviews with the SMEs. The methodology, results, and implications of this effort, as well as forward work needed, are discussed in this report.

  1. NASA Strategy to Safely Live and Work in the Space Radiation Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cucinotta, Francis; Wu, Honglu; Corbin, Barbara; Sulzman, Frank; Kreneck, Sam

    2007-01-01

    This viewgraph document reviews the radiation environment that is a significant potential hazard to NASA's goals for space exploration, of living and working in space. NASA has initiated a Peer reviewed research program that is charged with arriving at an understanding of the space radiation problem. To this end NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) was constructed to simulate the harsh cosmic and solar radiation found in space. Another piece of the work was to develop a risk modeling tool that integrates the results from research efforts into models of human risk to reduce uncertainties in predicting risk of carcinogenesis, central nervous system damage, degenerative tissue disease, and acute radiation effects acute radiation effects.

  2. CPRIT/Johnson Space Center, September, 2011 (Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey; Lane, Helen; Baker, Tracey; Cucinotta, Francis; Wu, Honglu

    2011-01-01

    JSC researchers study carcinogenesis, cancer prevention and treatment along with epidemiological (primarily retrospective and longitudinal) studies, modeling, and interactions with the environment such as radiation, nutritional, and endocrine changes related to space flight along with behaviors such as smoking. Cancer research is a major focus for human space flight due to the exposure to space radiation which consists of particles of varying charges and energies, and secondary neutrons. The JSC laboratories collaborate with investigators from the U.S. as well as our European and Japanese partners. We use accelerator facilities at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Loma Linda University and Los Alamos National Laboratory that generate high energy charged particles and neutrons to simulate cosmic radiation and solar particle events. The research using cultured cells and animals concentrates on damage and repair from the level of DNA to organ tissues, due to exposure to simulated space radiation exposure, that contribute to the induction of leukemia and solid tumors in most major tissues such as lung, colon, liver and breast. The goal of the research is to develop a mathematical model that can predict cancer morbidity and mortality risks with sufficient accuracy for a given space mission.

  3. Apollo Missions to the Lunar Surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graff, Paige V.

    2018-01-01

    Six Apollo missions to the Moon, from 1969-1972, enabled astronauts to collect and bring lunar rocks and materials from the lunar surface to Earth. Apollo lunar samples are curated by NASA Astromaterials at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Samples continue to be studied and provide clues about our early Solar System. Learn more and view collected samples at: https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar.

  4. Functional Requirements for Onboard Management of Space Shuttle Consumables. Volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graf, P. J.; Herwig, H. A.; Neel, L. W.

    1973-01-01

    This report documents the results of the study "Functional Requirements for Onboard Management of Space Shuttle Consumables." The study was conducted for the Mission Planning and Analysis Division of the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, between 3 July 1972 and 16 November 1973. The overall study program objective was two-fold. The first objective was to define a generalized consumable management concept which is applicable to advanced spacecraft. The second objective was to develop a specific consumables management concept for the Space Shuttle vehicle and to generate the functional requirements for the onboard portion of that concept. Consumables management is the process of controlling or influencing the usage of expendable materials involved in vehicle subsystem operation. The report consists of two volumes. Volume I presents a description of the study activities related to general approaches for developing consumable management, concepts for advanced spacecraft applications, and functional requirements for a Shuttle consumables management concept. Volume II presents a detailed description of the onboard consumables management concept proposed for use on the Space Shuttle.

  5. Commissioning of the Liquid Nitrogen Thermo-Siphon System for NASA-JSC Chamber-A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homan, J.; Montz, M.; Ganni, V.; Sidi-Yekhlef, A.; Knudsen, P.; Garcia, S.; Garza, J.

    2013-01-01

    NASA's Space Environment Simulation Laboratory's (SESL) Chamber A, located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas has recently implemented major enhancements of its cryogenic and vacuum systems. The new liquid nitrogen (LN2) thermo-siphon system was successfully commissioned in August of 2012. Chamber A, which has 20 K helium cryo-panels (or shrouds ) which are shielded by 80 K nitrogen shrouds, is capable of simulating a deep space environment necessary to perform ground testing of NASA s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Chamber A s previous system used forced flow LN2 cooling with centrifugal pumps, requiring 200,000 liters of LN2 to cool-down and consuming 180,000 liters per day of LN2 in steady operation. The LN2 system did not have the reliability required to meet the long duration test of the JWST, and the cost estimate provided in the initial approach to NASA-JSC by the sub-contractor for refurbishment of the system to meet the reliability goals was prohibitive. At NASA-JSC's request, the JLab Cryogenics Group provided alternative options in 2007, including a thermo-siphon, or natural flow system. This system, eliminated the need for pumps and used one tenth of the original control valves, relief valves, and burst disks. After the thermo-siphon approach was selected, JLab provided technical assistance in the process design, mechanical design, component specification development and commissioning oversight, while the installation and commissioning operations of the system was overseen by the Jacobs Technology/ESC group at JSC. The preliminary commissioning data indicate lower shroud temperatures, 70,000 liters to cool-down and less than 90,000 liters per day consumed in steady operation. All of the performance capabilities have exceeded the design goals. This paper will outline the comparison between the original system and the predicted results of the selected design option, and the commissioning results of thermo-siphon system.

  6. Commissioning of the Liquid Nitrogen Thermo-Siphon System for NASA-JSC Chamber A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homan, J.; Montz, M.; Ganni, V.; Sidi-Yekhlef, A.; Knudsen, P.; Garcia, S.; Garza, J.

    2013-01-01

    NASA s Space Environment Simulation Laboratory s (SESL) Chamber A, located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas has recently implemented major enhancements of its cryogenic and vacuum systems. The new liquid nitrogen (LN) thermo-siphon system was successfully commissioned in August of 2012. Chamber A, which has 20 K helium cryo-panels (or shrouds ) which are shielded by 80 K nitrogen shrouds, is capable of simulating a deep space environment necessary to perform ground testing of NASA s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Chamber A s previous system used forced flow LN cooling with centrifugal pumps, requiring 220,000 liters of LN to cool-down and consuming 180,000 liters per day of LN in steady operation. The LN system did not have the reliability required to meet the long duration test of the JWST, and the cost estimate provided in the initial approach to NASA-JSC by the subcontractor for refurbishment of the system to meet the reliability goals was prohibitive. At NASA-JSC s request, the JLab Cryogenics Group provided alternative options in 2007, including a thermo-siphon, or natural flow system. This system, eliminated the need for pumps and used one tenth of the original control valves, relief valves, and burst disks. After the thermo-siphon approach was selected, JLab provided technical assistance in the process design, mechanical design, component specification development and commissioning oversight, while the installation and commissioning operations of the system was overseen by the Jacobs Technology/ESC group at JSC. The preliminary commissioning data indicate lower shroud temperatures, 68,000 liters to cool-down and less than 91,000 liters per day consumed in steady operation. All of the performance capabilities have exceeded the design goals. This paper will outline the comparison between the original system and the predicted results of the selected design option, and the commissioning results of thermo-siphon system.

  7. Micro-Inspector Spacecraft for Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Juergen; Alkalai, Leon; Lewis, Carol

    2005-01-01

    NASA is seeking to embark on a new set of human and robotic exploration missions back to the Moon, to Mars, and destinations beyond. Key strategic technical challenges will need to be addressed to realize this new vision for space exploration, including improvements in safety and reliability to improve robustness of space operations. Under sponsorship by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), together with its partners in government (NASA Johnson Space Center) and industry (Boeing, Vacco Industries, Ashwin-Ushas Inc.) is developing an ultra-low mass (missions. The micro-inspector will provide remote vehicle inspections to ensure safety and reliability, or to provide monitoring of in-space assembly. The micro-inspector spacecraft represents an inherently modular system addition that can improve safety and support multiple host vehicles in multiple applications. On human missions, it may help extend the reach of human explorers, decreasing human EVA time to reduce mission cost and risk. The micro-inspector development is the continuation of an effort begun under NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology Enabling Concepts and Technology (ECT) program. The micro-inspector uses miniaturized celestial sensors; relies on a combination of solar power and batteries (allowing for unlimited operation in the sun and up to 4 hours in the shade); utilizes a low-pressure, low-leakage liquid butane propellant system for added safety; and includes multi-functional structure for high system-level integration and miniaturization. Versions of this system to be designed and developed under the H&RT program will include additional capabilities for on-board, vision-based navigation, spacecraft inspection, and collision avoidance, and will be demonstrated in a ground-based, space-related environment. These features make the micro-inspector design unique in its ability to serve crewed as well as robotic spacecraft, well beyond Earth-orbit and into arenas such

  8. Space Environmental Effects Testing Capability at the Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWittBurns, H.; Craven, Paul; Finckenor, Miria; Nehls, Mary; Schneider, Todd; Vaughn, Jason

    2012-01-01

    Understanding the effects of the space environment on materials and systems is fundamental and essential for mission success. If not properly understood and designed for, the effects of the environment can lead to degradation of materials, reduction of functional lifetime, and system failure. In response to this need, the Marshall Space Flight Center has developed world class Space Environmental Effects (SEE) expertise and test facilities to simulate the space environment. Capabilities include multiple unique test systems comprising the most complete SEE testing capability available. These test capabilities include charged particle radiation (electrons, protons, ions), ultraviolet radiation (UV), vacuum ultraviolet radiation (VUV), atomic oxygen, plasma effects, space craft charging, lunar surface and planetary effects, vacuum effects, and hypervelocity impacts as well as the combination of these capabilities. In addition to the uniqueness of the individual test capabilities, MSFC is the only NASA facility where the effects of the different space environments can be tested in one location. Combined with additional analytical capabilities for pre- and post-test evaluation, MSFC is a one-stop shop for materials testing and analysis. The SEE testing and analysis are performed by a team of award winning experts nationally recognized for their contributions in the study of the effects of the space environment on materials and systems. With this broad expertise in space environmental effects and the variety of test systems and equipment available, MSFC is able to customize tests with a demonstrated ability to rapidly adapt and reconfigure systems to meet customers needs. Extensive flight experiment experience bolsters this simulation and analysis capability with a comprehensive understanding of space environmental effects.

  9. Information Presentation: Human Research Program - Space Human Factors and Habitability, Space Human Factors Engineering Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holden, Kristina L.; Sandor, Aniko; Thompson, Shelby G.; Kaiser, Mary K.; McCann, Robert S.; Begault, D. R.; Adelstein, B. D.; Beutter, B. R.; Wenzel, E. M.; Godfroy, M.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The goal of the Information Presentation Directed Research Project (DRP) is to address design questions related to the presentation of information to the crew. The major areas of work, or subtasks, within this DRP are: 1) Displays, 2) Controls, 3) Electronic Procedures and Fault Management, and 4) Human Performance Modeling. This DRP is a collaborative effort between researchers atJohnson Space Center and Ames Research Center. T

  10. Suited for Spacewalking: A Teacher's Guide with Activities for Technology Education, Mathematics, and Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogt, Gregory L.; George, Jane A. (Editor)

    1998-01-01

    A Teacher's Guide with Activities for Technology Education, Mathematics, and Science National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Human Resources and Education Education Division Washington, DC Education Working Group NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas This publication is in the Public Domain and is not protected by copyright. Permission is not required for duplication.

  11. Safeguarding the Health of the NASA Astronaut Community: the Need for Expanded Medical Monitoring for Former NASA Astronauts Under the Astronaut Occupational Health Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi, Meredith; Lee, Lesley; Wear, Mary; Van Baalen, Mary; Rhodes, Bradley

    2016-01-01

    The astronaut community is unique, and may be disproportionately exposed to occupational hazards not commonly seen in other communities. The extent to which the demands of the astronaut occupation and exposure to spaceflight-related hazards affect the health of the astronaut population over the life course is not completely known. Provision of health screening services to active and former astronauts ensures individual, mission, and community health and safety. Currently, the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Flight Medicine Clinic (FMC) provides extensive medical monitoring to active astronauts throughout their careers. Upon retirement, astronauts may voluntarily return to the JSC FMC for an annual preventive exam. However, current retiree monitoring includes only selected screening tests, representing an opportunity for augmentation. The potential latent health effects of spaceflight demand an expanded framework of testing for former astronauts. The need is two-fold: screening tests widely recommended for other aging communities are necessary for astronauts to rule out conditions resulting from the natural aging process (e.g., colonoscopy, mammography), as opposed to conditions resulting directly from the astronaut occupation; and increased breadth of monitoring services will improve the understanding of occupational health risks and longitudinal health of the astronaut community, past, present, and future. To meet this need, NASA has begun an extensive exploration of the overall approach, cost, and policy implications of expanding existing medical monitoring under the Astronaut Occupational Health program for former NASA astronauts.

  12. NASA’s Universe of Learning: Providing a Direct Connection to NASA Science for Learners of all Ages with ViewSpace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, Brandon L.; Rhue, Timothy; Smith, Denise A.; Squires, Gordon K.; Biferno, Anya A.; Lestition, Kathleen; Cominsky, Lynn R.; Godfrey, John; Lee, Janice C.; Manning, Colleen

    2018-06-01

    NASA's Universe of Learning creates and delivers science-driven, audience-driven resources and experiences designed to engage and immerse learners of all ages and backgrounds in exploring the universe for themselves. The project is the result of a unique partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University, and is one of 27 competitively-selected cooperative agreements within the NASA Science Mission Directorate STEM Activation program. The NASA's Universe of Learning team draws upon cutting-edge science and works closely with Subject Matter Experts (scientists and engineers) from across the NASA Astrophysics Physics of the Cosmos, Cosmic Origins, and Exoplanet Exploration themes. As one example, NASA’s Universe of Learning program is uniquely able to provide informal learning venues with a direct connection to the science of NASA astrophysics via the ViewSpace platform. ViewSpace is a modular multimedia exhibit where people explore the latest discoveries in our quest to understand the universe. Hours of awe-inspiring video content connect users’ lives with an understanding of our planet and the wonders of the universe. This experience is rooted in informal learning, astronomy, and earth science. Scientists and educators are intimately involved in the production of ViewSpace material. ViewSpace engages visitors of varying backgrounds and experience at museums, science centers, planetariums, and libraries across the United States. In addition to creating content, the Universe of Learning team is updating the ViewSpace platform to provide for additional functionality, including the introduction of digital interactives to make ViewSpace a multi-modal learning experience. During this presentation we will share the ViewSpace platform, explain how Subject Matter Experts are critical in creating content for ViewSpace, and how we are addressing audience

  13. Potential Large Decadal Missions Enabled by Nasas Space Launch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.; Schnell, Andrew; Smith, David Alan; Jackman, Angela; Warfield, Keith R.

    2016-01-01

    Large space telescope missions have always been limited by their launch vehicle's mass and volume capacities. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was specifically designed to fit inside the Space Shuttle and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is specifically designed to fit inside an Ariane 5. Astrophysicists desire even larger space telescopes. NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-m Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultra-high-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. AURA's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-m class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. NASA's "Planning for the 2020 Decadal Survey" calls for a Habitable Exoplanet Imaging (HabEx) and a LUVOIR as well as Far-IR and an X-Ray Surveyor missions. Packaging larger space telescopes into existing launch vehicles is a significant engineering complexity challenge that drives cost and risk. NASA's planned Space Launch System (SLS), with its 8 or 10-m diameter fairings and ability to deliver 35 to 45-mt of payload to Sun-Earth-Lagrange-2, mitigates this challenge by fundamentally changing the design paradigm for large space telescopes. This paper reviews the mass and volume capacities of the planned SLS, discusses potential implications of these capacities for designing large space telescope missions, and gives three specific mission concept implementation examples: a 4-m monolithic off-axis telescope, an 8-m monolithic on-axis telescope and a 12-m segmented on-axis telescope.

  14. Evaluating the Medical Kit System for the International Space Station(ISS) - A Paradigm Revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hailey, Melinda J.; Urbina, Michelle C.; Hughlett, Jessica L.; Gilmore, Stevan; Locke, James; Reyna, Baraquiel; Smith, Gwyn E.

    2010-01-01

    Medical capabilities aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been packaged to help astronaut crew medical officers (CMO) mitigate both urgent and non-urgent medical issues during their 6-month expeditions. Two ISS crewmembers are designated as CMOs for each 3-crewmember mission and are typically not physicians. In addition, the ISS may have communication gaps of up to 45 minutes during each orbit, necessitating medical equipment that can be reliably operated autonomously during flight. The retirement of the space shuttle combined with ten years of manned ISS expeditions led the Space Medicine Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center to reassess the current ISS Medical Kit System. This reassessment led to the system being streamlined to meet future logistical considerations with current Russian space vehicles and future NASA/commercial space vehicle systems. Methods The JSC Space Medicine Division coordinated the development of requirements, fabrication of prototypes, and conducted usability testing for the new ISS Medical Kit System in concert with implementing updated versions of the ISS Medical Check List and associated in-flight software applications. The teams constructed a medical kit system with the flexibility for use on the ISS, and resupply on the Russian Progress space vehicle and future NASA/commercial space vehicles. Results Prototype systems were developed, reviewed, and tested for implementation. Completion of Preliminary and Critical Design Reviews resulted in a streamlined ISS Medical Kit System that is being used for training by ISS crews starting with Expedition 27 (June 2011). Conclusions The team will present the process for designing, developing, , implementing, and training with this new ISS Medical Kit System.

  15. Biological and Medical Experiments on the Space Shuttle, 1981 - 1985

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halstead, Thora W. (Editor); Dufour, Patricia A. (Editor)

    1986-01-01

    This volume is the first in a planned series of reports intended to provide a comprehensive record of all the biological and medical experiments and samples flown on the Space Shuttle. Experiments described have been conducted over a five-year period, beginning with the first plant studies conducted on STS-2 in November 1981, and extending through STS 61-C, the last mission to fly before the tragic Challenger accident of January 1986. Experiments were sponsored within NASA not only by the Life Sciences Division of the Office of Space Science and Applications, but also by the Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP) and the Get Away Special (GAS) Program. Independent medical studies were conducted as well on the Shuttle crew under the auspices of the Space Biomedical Research Institute at Johnson Space Center. In addition, cooperative agreements between NASA and foreign government agencies led to a number of independent experiments and also paved the way for the joint US/ESA Spacelab 1 mission and the German (DFVLR) Spacelab D-1. Experiments included: (1) medically oriented studies of the crew aimed at identifying, preventing, or treating health problems due to space travel; (2) projects to study morphological, physiological, or behavioral effects of microgravity on animals and plants; (3) studies of the effects of microgravity on cells and tissues; and (4) radiation experiments monitoring the spacecraft environment with chemical or biological dosimeters or testing radiation effects on simple organisms and seeds.

  16. Economic Analysis on the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) NASA Team

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Eric J.

    1999-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) performed the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) to provide information to support end-of-the-decade decisions on possible near-term US Government (USG) investments in space transportation. To gain a clearer understanding of the costs and benefits of the broadest range of possible space transportation options, six teams, five from aerospace industry companies and one internal to NASA, were tasked to answer three primary questions: a) If the Space Shuttle system should be replaced; b) If so, when the replacement should take place and how the transition should be implemented; and c) If not, what is the upgrade strategy to continue safe and affordable flight of the Space Shuttle beyond 2010. The overall goal of the Study was "to develop investment options to be considered by the Administration for the President's FY2001 budget to meet NASA's future human space flight requirements with significant reductions in costs." This emphasis on government investment, coupled with the participation by commercial f'trms, required an unprecedented level of economic analysis of costs and benefits from both industry and government viewpoints. This paper will discuss the economic and market models developed by the in-house NASA Team to analyze space transportation architectures, the results of those analyses, and how those results were reflected in the conclusions and recommendations of the STAS NASA Team. Copyright 1999 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. No copyright is asserted in the United States under Title 17, U.$. Code. The U.S. Government has a royalty-free license to exercise all rights under the copyright claimed herein for Governmental purposes. All other rights are reserved by the copyright owner.

  17. Mass Properties Measurement in the X-38 Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Wayne L.

    2004-01-01

    This paper details the techniques used in measuring the mass properties for the X-38 family of test vehicles. The X-38 Project was a NASA internal venture in which a series of test vehicles were built in order to develop a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station. Three atmospheric test vehicles and one spaceflight vehicle were built to develop the technologies required for a CRV. The three atmospheric test vehicles have undergone flight-testing by a combined team from the NASA Johnson Space Center and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The flight-testing was performed at Edward's Air Force Base in California. The X-38 test vehicles are based on the X-24A, which flew in the '60s and '70s. Scaled Composites, Inc. of Mojave, California, built the airframes and the vehicles were outfitted at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Mass properties measurements on the atmospheric test vehicles included weight and balance by the three-point suspension method, four-point suspension method, three load cells on jackstands, and on three in-ground platform scales. Inertia measurements were performed as well in which Ixx, Iyy, Izz, and Ixz were obtained. This paper describes each technique and the relative merits of each. The proposed measurement methods for an X-38 spaceflight test vehicle will also be discussed. This vehicle had different measurement challenges, but integrated vehicle measurements were never conducted. The spaceflight test vehicle was also developed by NASA and was scheduled to fly on the Space Shuttle before the project was cancelled.

  18. Artificial intelligence - NASA. [robotics for Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, J. D.

    1985-01-01

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a vital common space support element needed to enable the civil space program and commercial space program to perform their missions successfully. It is pointed out that advances in AI stimulated by the Space Station Program could benefit the U.S. in many ways. A fundamental challenge for the civil space program is to meet the needs of the customers and users of space with facilities enabling maximum productivity and having low start-up costs, and low annual operating costs. An effective way to meet this challenge may involve a man-machine system in which artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced automation are integrated into high reliability organizations. Attention is given to the benefits, NASA strategy for AI, candidate space station systems, the Space Station as a stepping stone, and the commercialization of space.

  19. Novel Problem Solving - The NASA Solution Mechanism Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keeton, Kathryn E.; Richard, Elizabeth E.; Davis, Jeffrey R.

    2014-01-01

    Over the past five years, the Human Health and Performance (HH&P) Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has conducted a number of pilot and ongoing projects in collaboration and open innovation. These projects involved the use of novel open innovation competitions that sought solutions from "the crowd", non-traditional problem solvers. The projects expanded to include virtual collaboration centers such as the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC) and more recently a collaborative research project between NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These novel problem-solving tools produced effective results and the HH&P wanted to capture the knowledge from these new tools, to teach the results to the directorate, and to implement new project management tools and coursework. The need to capture and teach the results of these novel problem solving tools, the HH&P decided to create a web-based tool to capture best practices and case studies, to teach novice users how to use new problem solving tools and to change project management training/. This web-based tool was developed with a small, multi-disciplinary group and named the Solution Mechanism Guide (SMG). An alpha version was developed that was tested against several sessions of user groups to get feedback on the SMG and determine a future course for development. The feedback was very positive and the HH&P decided to move to the beta-phase of development. To develop the web-based tool, the HH&P utilized the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) to develop the software with TopCoder under an existing contract. In this way, the HH&P is using one new tool (the NTL and TopCoder) to develop the next generation tool, the SMG. The beta-phase of the SMG is planed for release in the spring of 2014 and results of the beta-phase testing will be available for the IAC meeting in September. The SMG is intended to disrupt the way problem solvers and project managers approach problem solving and to increase the

  20. Technology transfer at NASA - A librarian's view

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchan, Ronald L.

    1991-01-01

    The NASA programs, publications, and services promoting the transfer and utilization of aerospace technology developed by and for NASA are briefly surveyed. Topics addressed include the corporate sources of NASA technical information and its interest for corporate users of information services; the IAA and STAR abstract journals; NASA/RECON, NTIS, and the AIAA Aerospace Database; the RECON Space Commercialization file; the Computer Software Management and Information Center file; company information in the RECON database; and services to small businesses. Also discussed are the NASA publications Tech Briefs and Spinoff, the Industrial Applications Centers, NASA continuing bibliographies on management and patent abstracts (indexed using the NASA Thesaurus), the Index to NASA News Releases and Speeches, and the Aerospace Research Information Network (ARIN).

  1. Future NASA mission applications of space nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennett, G.L.; Mankins, J.; McConnell, D.G.; Reck, G.M.

    1990-01-01

    Recent studies sponsored by NASA show a continuing need for space nuclear power. A recently completed study considered missions such as a Jovian grand tour, a Uranus or Neptune orbiter and probe, and a Pluto flyby that can only be done with nuclear power. There are studies for missions beyond the outer boundaries of the solar system at distances of 100 to 1000 astronomical units. The NASA 90-day study on the space exploration initiative identified a need for nuclear reactors to power lunar surface bases and radioisotope power sources for use in lunar or Martian rovers, as well as considering options for advanced, nuclear propulsion systems for human missions to Mars

  2. Using NASA's Space Launch System to Enable Game Changing Science Mission Designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creech, Stephen D.

    2013-01-01

    NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is directing efforts to build the Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will help restore U.S. leadership in space by carrying the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and other important payloads far beyond Earth orbit. Its evolvable architecture will allow NASA to begin with Moon fly-bys and then go on to transport humans or robots to distant places such as asteroids, Mars, and the outer solar system. Designed to simplify spacecraft complexity, the SLS rocket will provide improved mass margins and radiation mitigation, and reduced mission durations. These capabilities offer attractive advantages for ambitious missions such as a Mars sample return, by reducing infrastructure requirements, cost, and schedule. For example, if an evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) were used for a proposed mission to investigate the Saturn system, a complicated trajectory would be required with several gravity-assist planetary fly-bys to achieve the necessary outbound velocity. The SLS rocket, using significantly higher C3 energies, can more quickly and effectively take the mission directly to its destination, reducing trip times and cost. As this paper will report, the SLS rocket will launch payloads of unprecedented mass and volume, such as monolithic telescopes and in-space infrastructure. Thanks to its ability to co-manifest large payloads, it also can accomplish complex missions in fewer launches. Future analyses will include reviews of alternate mission concepts and detailed evaluations of SLS figures of merit, helping the new rocket revolutionize science mission planning and design for years to come.

  3. Developing a Fault Management Guidebook for Nasa's Deep Space Robotic Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fesq, Lorraine M.; Jacome, Raquel Weitl

    2015-01-01

    NASA designs and builds systems that achieve incredibly ambitious goals, as evidenced by the Curiosity rover traversing on Mars, the highly complex International Space Station orbiting our Earth, and the compelling plans for capturing, retrieving and redirecting an asteroid into a lunar orbit to create a nearby a target to be investigated by astronauts. In order to accomplish these feats, the missions must be imbued with sufficient knowledge and capability not only to realize the goals, but also to identify and respond to off-nominal conditions. Fault Management (FM) is the discipline of establishing how a system will respond to preserve its ability to function even in the presence of faults. In 2012, NASA released a draft FM Handbook in an attempt to coalesce the field by establishing a unified terminology and a common process for designing FM mechanisms. However, FM approaches are very diverse across NASA, especially between the different mission types such as Earth orbiters, launch vehicles, deep space robotic vehicles and human spaceflight missions, and the authors were challenged to capture and represent all of these views. The authors recognized that a necessary precursor step is for each sub-community to codify its FM policies, practices and approaches in individual, focused guidebooks. Then, the sub-communities can look across NASA to better understand the different ways off-nominal conditions are addressed, and to seek commonality or at least an understanding of the multitude of FM approaches. This paper describes the development of the "Deep Space Robotic Fault Management Guidebook," which is intended to be the first of NASA's FM guidebooks. Its purpose is to be a field-guide for FM practitioners working on deep space robotic missions, as well as a planning tool for project managers. Publication of this Deep Space Robotic FM Guidebook is expected in early 2015. The guidebook will be posted on NASA's Engineering Network on the FM Community of Practice

  4. Recent Pharmacology Studies on the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wotring, Virginia

    2014-01-01

    The environment on the International Space Station (ISS) includes a variety of potential stressors including the absence of Earth's gravity, elevated exposure to radiation, confined living and working quarters, a heavy workload, and high public visibility. The effects of this extreme environment on pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and even on stored medication doses, are not yet understood. Dr. Wotring will discuss recent analyses of medication doses that experienced long duration storage on the ISS and a recent retrospective examination of medication use during long-duration spaceflights. She will also describe new pharmacology experiments that are scheduled for upcoming ISS missions. Dr. Virginia E. Wotring is a Senior Scientist in the Division of Space Life Sciences in the Universities Space Research Association, and Pharmacology Discipline Lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Human Heath and Countermeasures Division. She received her doctorate in Pharmacological and Physiological Science from Saint Louis University after earning a B.S. in Chemistry at Florida State University. She has published multiple studies on ligand gated ion channels in the brain and spinal cord. Her research experience includes drug mechanisms of action, drug receptor structure/function relationships and gene & protein expression. She joined USRA (and spaceflight research) in 2009. In 2012, her book reviewing pharmacology in spaceflight was published by Springer: Space Pharmacology, Space Development Series.

  5. EPCOT, NASA and plant pathogens in space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, R

    1996-01-01

    Cooperative work between NASA and Walt Disney World's EPCOT Land Pavilion is described. Joint efforts include research about allelopathy in multi-species plant cropping in CELSS, LEDs as light sources in hydroponic systems, and the growth of plant pathogens in space.

  6. NASA Engineering Safety Center NASA Aerospace Flight Battery Systems Working Group 2007 Proactive Task Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manzo, Michelle A.

    2007-01-01

    In 2007, the NASA Engineering Safety Center (NESC) chartered the NASA Aerospace Flight Battery Systems Working Group to bring forth and address critical battery-related performance/manufacturing issues for NASA and the aerospace community. A suite of tasks identifying and addressing issues related to Ni-H2 and Li-ion battery chemistries was submitted and selected for implementation. The current NESC funded are: (1) Wet Life of Ni-H2 Batteries (2) Binding Procurement (3) NASA Lithium-Ion Battery Guidelines (3a) Li-Ion Performance Assessment (3b) Li-Ion Guidelines Document (3b-i) Assessment of Applicability of Pouch Cells for Aerospace Missions (3b-ii) High Voltage Risk Assessment (3b-iii) Safe Charge Rates for Li-Ion Cells (4) Availability of Source Material for Li-Ion Cells (5) NASA Aerospace Battery Workshop This presentation provides a brief overview of the tasks in the 2007 plan and serves as an introduction to more detailed discussions on each of the specific tasks.

  7. The NASA radar entomology program at Wallops Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughn, C. R.

    1979-01-01

    NASA contribution to radar entomology is presented. Wallops Flight Center is described in terms of its radar systems. Radar tracking of birds and insects was recorded from helicopters for airspeed and vertical speed.

  8. Environmental monitoring and research at the John F. Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, C. R.; Hinkle, C. R.; Knott, W. M.; Summerfield, B. R.

    1992-01-01

    The Biomedical Operations and Research Office at the NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center has been supporting environmental monitoring and research since the mid-1970s. Program elements include monitoring of baseline conditions to document natural variability in the ecosystem, assessments of operations and construction of new facilities, and ecological research focusing on wildlife habitat associations. Information management is centered around development of a computerized geographic information system that incorporates remote sensing and digital image processing technologies along with traditional relational data base management capabilities. The proactive program is one in which the initiative is to anticipate potential environmental concerns before they occur and, by utilizing in-house expertise, develop impact minimization or mitigation strategies to reduce environmental risk.

  9. Usable Translational Hand Controllers for NASA's Habitability Design Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westbrook, Kimberly

    2016-01-01

    This summer I was given the opportunity to work at the Habitability Design Center (HDC). NASA Johnson Space Center's HDC is currently developing Cislunar and Mars spacecraft mockups. I contributed to this effort by designing from scratch low cost, functional translational hand controllers (THCs) that will be used in spacecraft mission simulation in low to medium fidelity exploration spacecraft mockups. This project fell under the category of mechatronics, a combination of mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. Being an aerospace engineering student, I was out of my comfort zone. And that was a wonderful thing. The autonomy that my mentor, Dr. Robert Howard, allowed me gave me the opportunity to learn by trying, failing, and trying again. This project was not only a professional success for me, but a significant learning experience. I appreciated the freedom that I had to take the time to learn new things for myself rather than blindly follow instructions. I was the sole person working on this project, and was required to work independently to solve the many hardware and software challenges that the project entailed. I researched THCs that have been used on the ISS, the Space Shuttle, and the Orion MPVC and based my design off of these. I worked through many redesigns before finding an optimal configuration of the necessary mechanisms and electrical components for the THC. Once I had a functional hardware design, I dove into the challenge of getting an Arduino Uno, an extremely low cost and easily programmable microcontroller, to behave as a human interface device. The THCs I built needed to be able to integrate to a mission simulation designed by NASA's Graphics and Visualization Lab. This proved to be the most challenging aspect of the project. To accomplish this I learned how to change the firmware of the USB serial converter microcontroller. The process was very complicated as it involved multiple software programs and manual flashing of pins on the

  10. Emergency Operations Center ribbon cutting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Center Director Gene Goldman and special guests celebrate the opening of the site's new Emergency Operations Center on June 2. Participants included (l t r): Steven Cooper, deputy director of the National Weather Service Southern Region; Tom Luedtke, NASA associate administrator for institutions and management; Charles Scales, NASA associate deputy administrator; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; Gene Goldman, director of Stennis Space Center; Jack Forsythe, NASA assistant administrator for the Office of Security and Program Protection; Dr. Richard Williams, NASA chief health and medical officer; and Weldon Starks, president of Starks Contracting Company Inc. of Biloxi.

  11. 77 FR 4370 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-27

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (12-006)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... meeting. SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Commercial Space...

  12. 77 FR 20852 - NASA Advisory Council; Commercial Space Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-06

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (12-027)] NASA Advisory Council; Commercial... Meeting. SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Commercial Space...

  13. Dr.Johnson's Dictionary in Miniature

    OpenAIRE

    Imazato, Chiaki

    1988-01-01

    More than hundred 'Johnson's' dictionaries have so far been published not only in English but in other countries, and there are numerous books and articles on Johnson's Dictionary. But few have referred to Johnson's Dictionary in Miniature; nor were there any books or articles on it. Fortunately, however, I've got one copy of Johnson's Dictionary in Miniature, which was published in 1806. Johnson's Dictionary (1755) has 41,677 entries, whereas Johnson's Dictionary in Miniature 23,439 entr...

  14. Thermal Stir Welding Development at Marshall Space Flight Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Robert J.

    2008-01-01

    Solid state welding processes have become the focus of welding process development at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Unlike fusion weld processes such as tungsten inert gas (TIG), variable polarity plasma arc (VPPA), electron beam (EB), etc., solid state welding processes do not melt the material during welding. The resultant microstructure can be characterized as a dynamically recrystallized morphology much different than the casted, dentritic structure typical of fusion weld processes. The primary benefits of solid state processes over fusion weld processes include superior mechanic properties and the elimination of thermal distortion and residual stresses. These solid state processes attributes have profoundly influenced the direction of advanced welding research and development within the NASA agency. Thermal Stir Welding (TSW) is a new solid state welding process being developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Unlike friction stir welding, the heating, stirring and forging elements of the weld process can be decoupled for independent control. An induction coil induces energy into a workpiece to attain a desired plastic temperature. An independently controlled stir rod, captured within non-rotating containment plates, then stirs the plasticized material followed by forging plates/rollers that work the stirred weld joint. The independent control (decoupling) of heating, stirring and forging allows, theoretically, for the precision control of microstructure morphology. The TSW process is being used to evaluate the solid state joining of Haynes 230 for ARES J-2X applications. It is also being developed for 500-in (12.5 mm) thick commercially pure grade 2 titanium for navy applications. Other interests include Inconel 718 and stainless steel. This presentation will provide metallurgical and mechanical property data for these high melting temperature alloys.

  15. Johnson and Johnson strives to implement best practices by year 2000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kauffman, H.A.

    1999-01-01

    Johnson and Johnson is the world's most comprehensive broadly-based manufacturer of health care products. Utilizing a decentralized management philosophy, the 188 operating companies around the world operate independently. Although Johnson and Johnson is not an energy intensive company, it has had a coordinated energy program since 1972. In the 1990s, however, a renewed focus, prompted by the link between energy usage and pollution, led to some very aggressive energy reduction goals to be completed by the end of the year 2000. To assist the operating companies in meeting these goals. a comprehensive set of Best Practices was developed. They cover all facility energy-using equipment and maintenance practices. Inputs included projects completed at Johnson and Johnson facilities worldwide, best practices from several US government voluntary programs, and recommendations from consultants and engineering firms. The end product is now being used worldwide to benchmark the progress. To ensure that these Best Practices are incorporated into new construction as well as the existing facilities, the authors developed their New Facility Design Criteria which is in the format that architectural/engineering firms can easily utilize. They originally validated the Best Practices in two retrofit pilots and two new buildings. They all achieved significant energy savings. As of April 1999, they have completed 62% of the Best Practices at the 96 facilities in the US and Puerto Rico. Twenty-four of these facilities had achieved an 80% completion level in 1998 and were recognized with the internal recognition plaque. Through full implementation of these Best Practices, Johnson and Johnson feel confident that they will be able to meet the Year 2000 energy reduction goals

  16. Computer science: Key to a space program renaissance. The 1981 NASA/ASEE summer study on the use of computer science and technology in NASA. Volume 2: Appendices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freitas, R. A., Jr. (Editor); Carlson, P. A. (Editor)

    1983-01-01

    Adoption of an aggressive computer science research and technology program within NASA will: (1) enable new mission capabilities such as autonomous spacecraft, reliability and self-repair, and low-bandwidth intelligent Earth sensing; (2) lower manpower requirements, especially in the areas of Space Shuttle operations, by making fuller use of control center automation, technical support, and internal utilization of state-of-the-art computer techniques; (3) reduce project costs via improved software verification, software engineering, enhanced scientist/engineer productivity, and increased managerial effectiveness; and (4) significantly improve internal operations within NASA with electronic mail, managerial computer aids, an automated bureaucracy and uniform program operating plans.

  17. Johnson Mendonca

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Johnson Mendonca. Articles written in Bulletin of Materials Science. Volume 26 Issue 3 April 2003 pp 355-364 Modeling Studies. Modeling of droplet dynamic and thermal behaviour during spray deposition · N S Mahesh Johnson Mendonca M K Muralidhara B K Muralidhara C Ramachandra · More Details Abstract Fulltext ...

  18. Eclipse 2017: Partnering with NASA MSFC to Inspire Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fry, Craig " Ghee" Adams, Mitzi; Gallagher, Dennis; Krause, Linda

    2017-01-01

    NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is partnering with the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC), and Austin Peay State University (APSU) to engage citizen scientists, engineers, and students in science investigations during the 2017 American Solar Eclipse. Investigations will support the Citizen Continental America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE), Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation(HamSCI), and Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiments (INSPIRE). All planned activities will engage Space Campers and local high school students in the application of the scientific method as they seek to explore a wide range of observations during the eclipse. Where planned experiments touch on current scientific questions, the camper/students will be acting as citizen scientists, participating with researchers from APSU and MSFC. Participants will test their expectations and after the eclipse, share their results, experiences, and conclusions to younger Space Campers at the US Space & Rocket Center.

  19. NASA Ames Sustainability Initiatives: Aeronautics, Space Exploration, and Sustainable Futures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grymes, Rosalind A.

    2015-01-01

    In support of the mission-specific challenges of aeronautics and space exploration, NASA Ames produces a wealth of research and technology advancements with significant relevance to larger issues of planetary sustainability. NASA research on NexGen airspace solutions and its development of autonomous and intelligent technologies will revolutionize both the nation's air transporation systems and have applicability to the low altitude flight economy and to both air and ground transporation, more generally. NASA's understanding of the Earth as a complex of integrated systems contributes to humanity's perception of the sustainability of our home planet. Research at NASA Ames on closed environment life support systems produces directly applicable lessons on energy, water, and resource management in ground-based infrastructure. Moreover, every NASA campus is a 'city'; including an urbanscape and a workplace including scientists, human relations specialists, plumbers, engineers, facility managers, construction trades, transportation managers, software developers, leaders, financial planners, technologists, electricians, students, accountants, and even lawyers. NASA is applying the lessons of our mission-related activities to our urbanscapes and infrastructure, and also anticipates a leadership role in developing future environments for living and working in space.

  20. Implementing a Reliability Centered Maintenance Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Tuttle, Raymond

    1998-01-01

    .... A reliability centered maintenance (RCM) program seeks to offer equal or greater reliability at decreased cost by insuring only applicable, effective maintenance is performed and by in large part replacing time based maintenance...